The Inevitable Changes
by ecStarz
Summary: After TJ makes the gang promise to stay friends as they grow up, will everyone keep the promise? If they don't, will Spinelli succeed at bringing the group back together? Read and find out.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey, everyone! This is my second fanfic that I've written, so don't judge me too harshly, though constructive criticism is accepted.**

**I've recently come across **_**Recess **_**and it brought back so many memories of my childhood that I thought I should write about it. So here is the beginning.**

**I hope you enjoy it and it would mean a LOT to me if you all reviewed and/or commented. Remember: I'll only keep writing/updating if I get reviews- good OR bad… so REVIEW! Please and Thanks.**

**Anyway, here's the prologue, and sorry that it's kind of short.**

**Prologue**

It was a normal day like any other. At least, it started out that way. It was that time of day again- the time that we had looked forward to for six years.

Recess.

Recess was _our _time. It was the time to cream others in a competitive game of kickball, squash opponents in dodgeball, and get tackled during my all-time favorite game- battle tag. It had been that way for six years, and nothing was going to change that.

Today's recess, however, was not spent doing any of those things. Instead, my five best friends and I were swung across the metal dome climber talking about a topic that I didn't even want to think about at the moment. _Our future._

Sure, our future was bound to show up sooner or later, but we were only going to be kids for a few more years, and I wanted to make the most of it. So I was hoping for later.

TJ didn't respect my wishes though. He called this little meeting to discuss next year, as we were going to be moving on to the big school- Third Street Middle School. It was enough to make me gag.

What ticked me off was that TJ was late to his own meeting. Everyone was here except him.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late," TJ said, walking up to us. "Finster was asking me pointless questions and I couldn't get away."

"What questions? You didn't pull a prank without us, did you TJ?" Gus asked, worried.

"No, Gus, I didn't. Don't worry. I wouldn't pull a prank without my crew," and with that, TJ, who was standing in between Gus and Vince on the ground, swung his arm over their shoulders.

I rolled my eyes. "That's great and all, Teej. But can we get on with this meeting before recess is over? I got suckers to cream at a little game I like to call dodgeball," I said, slyly, cupping my fist with my other hand.

"Now, Spinelli," Gretchen said, "I'm sure what TJ is about to announce is very important because it's not very often that he cancels activities for a 'meeting,' as he likes to call it."

TJ nodded. "Thanks, Gretch. Now, I've called this little 'get together' to discuss our futures."

I groaned. This was the _last _thing I wanted to talk about during the precious time of recess. "Teej, can we talk about this later? Right now, our future includes creaming the fifth graders at dodgeball."

"No, Spinelli. We have to talk about this now because…" TJ trailed off.

"Because why?" I asked, crossing my arms in front of my chest, becoming more annoyed by the second.

TJ looked around like he was about to tell us a secret, but knowing TJ, he very well could be. "I talked to Butch."

Well, that wasn't much of a secret. I was wasting my recess time to hear something that _Butch _said? Unbelievable.

The others, nonetheless, seemed intrigued. "Oh what great intelligence has thou Butch set upon you today?" Mikey sang in his poetic way of his. _Does he have to say everything like it's poetry? _If you ask me, then no, no he doesn't. But if you ask Mikey, then yes, yes he does.

Butch was Third Street School's eyes and ears of the 'older people,' which included middle and high schoolers. Whenever you needed to know something about the 'future,' Butch was your guy, even if he had weird ways of showing it.

"He told me that next year, when we become 7th graders, there's an 84-percent chance that we will lose the friends that we made in elementary school."

Everyone gasped, me included. _Um, excuse me? _We all didn't want to believe it but we all knew it was true. You could count on everything that Butch said.

Gretchen was the first one to break the silence by taking out a calculator. "Are you sure he did the math correctly?" _What a nerd. _She punched some numbers on the device. "If I refigure the formula correctly, then the probability of losing elementary school friends shouldn't be 84-percent, but…" Her eyes widened.

"What is it, Gretch?" Vince asked.

"96.24-percent."

And then the awkward silence was back.

"Even worse!" Gus exclaimed. _Thank you Captain Obvious. _"What am I gonna do without you guys? I don't know how I'm going to survive! I don't- I don't-" He started to hyperventilate.

"It's ok, Gus! That's why I called you all here today- to make a promise." TJ started pacing back and forth in front of where we were sitting.

"But, Teej! We can't stop fate. If Butch said it's gonna happen, then it's gonna happen!" Vince started to look pale and I wondered why he was so upset. He was athletic, he was popular. He was going to have no trouble finding another group of friends to hang out with. If anyone should have been worried, it should be Gus and Mikey. No offence to them, of course.

"I'm not gonna let it happen, Vince. That's why I want you guys to raise your right hand…" Slowly everyone raised their right hand. "…and repeat after me: I promise-"

"I promise-" We all said together in unison.

"That we will let nothing-"

"That we will let nothing-"

"Tear us apart-"

"Tear us apart-"

"and that we-"

"and that we-"

"will always stay friends no matter what happens."

"will always stay friends no matter what happens."

"You can put your arm down now," TJ said, smiling.

"Great, now that we have that under control, can we go play dodge ball now?" I asked, leaping off of the dome. I didn't wait for an answer before I ran over to the dodge ball wall.

I wasn't worried about the gang and me not being friends anymore once we hit middle school. When my brother started middle school, he stayed friends with his elementary school pals, even though they were friends for a shorter amount of time than me, TJ, and the crew. We had stayed friends for six years and nothing, not even 7th grade, was going to change that. I was going to make sure of it.

Little did I know, that not even Spinelli, as tough as I am, could control fate. But I was going to bet my brother's boots that I would try.

**Well, there's the prologue. I know that it's really short and I promise that the chapters are going to be longer. That is, if you guys want me to keep writing. I'm not going to continue something if nobody is going to read it.**

**I decided to write in Spinelli's point-of-view because she is just like me in so many ways, so I thought it'd be the easiest.**

**So, REVIEW and COMMENT if you want me to keep writing! The next chapter won't be posted 'till you do! **

**It'd be really appreciated, so THANKS! :)**

**-ecStarz**


	2. Chapter 1  Last Day of 6th Grade

**A/N: Hey! So, here's Chapter One and I have to say, I kind of like it, so I hope you enjoy it, too! I also want to thank those who reviewed the prologue, it really meant a lot to me.**

**Anyway, read on!**

**Chapter 1**

As I sat in the back row of my Honors English class (_who knew I'd be smart enough to get into smart English? I sure didn't_), I thought about that day and wondered where everything could've possibly went wrong. Was it the summer between sixth and seventh grade? _No, everything was perfectly normal._

And it was. I remember the last day of elementary school like it was yesterday. I mean, who couldn't? It was the final moments of 'childrenship' that we had to make the most of because once the new school year started, a whole new list of expectations was waiting for us a couple blocks down the road. Plus, I messed everything up.

That last day went a little something like this…

_Screech. _"Black widow to Magpie, is everything set?" _Screech. _Of course everything was set; we'd gone over the plan about a million times.

_Screech. _"This is Magpie. Everything seems to be in order and ready for cue." _Screech. _The gang and I were about to go down in history, either famously or infamously, and I was practically drunk with excitement. This year was going to top every other year.

_ Screech. "_Black widow to Wild Raven, what about your end?"_ Screech. _Every year, on the last day of school, TJ had always cooked up a plan to pull a big prank on the school faculty, mainly Ms. Finster and Principal Prickly.

_ Screech. _"Affirmative Black widow. Everyone is set and ready. Operation Finale is a go."_ Screech. _Pulling pranks has been a tradition during this time of year, and because it was our last day of attending Third Street Elementary School, we were going to go out on a bang…

_ Screech. _"Copy that. Assume the positions. Operation Finale initiated in 5, 4, 3, 2-" …_literally._

"Go," I whispered to TJ, who had walked up to me when he started the countdown, and right on cue, TJ ran over to the Ashley's, as much as it pained me to see him go. _Wait, what am I saying?_ I shouldn't be worried about TJ talking to Ashley A, B, Q, and T; I should be waiting for my cue to start my part of the plan. _Yeah, Spinelli, stop thinking about your best friend like that!_

I was shaking my head to get the random thoughts out when my walky-talky started to speak to me. _Screech. _"Magpie, you're on." _Screech. _I nodded to no one in particular and started to creep my way across the playground to the kickball field, inconspicuously of course. There wasn't any reason to seem out of the ordinary.

Making sure no one was following me, I crouched down behind the backboard behind the home plate and pulled my bag off of my shoulders. I grabbed the rope that hung down from a tree branch above me that Gus had put there earlier in the pranking process, and tied it onto a smaller sack that I pulled out of my backpack. I made sure that the knot was tied tightly before I left, and I ran off, not looking back.

"Ashley Spinelli!" _Oh, man._

I turned in the direction where the voice came from and groaned. "Hey, Ms. Finster," I chirped with pseudo-enthusiasm, "uh, what's the haps?" At first I panicked and thought Randall ratted the plan out, but then I remembered that TJ carefully planned around that weasel.

"What are you doing way out here? Everybody else is near the school. Is there something you're not telling me? Should I get Principal Prickly out here?" Jeez, that woman cannot shut up.

Fortunately, TJ also planned around encounters like this one. "No!" I said, a little too quickly. Finster looked at me suspiciously and I gave a little half-hearted laugh. "I mean, uh, that wouldn't be necessary, you see, because I, uh, just had to get my bag that I left by the kickball diamond during first recess," I covered, patting my backpack. _Yep, always prepared._

Finster narrowed her eyes at me and didn't say anything for the longest time. I wondered if she bought it.

By the time the third minute passed, I was starting to become anxious. There was still another part of the plan that I was involved with and this lady here wasn't helping me get the job done. "Uh, sorry Ms. Finster, but if you're just going to stare at me all day, can I go now? I have places to go, people to see."

"Yeah, whatever, you're coming with me, young lady," Finster growled, and grabbed my jacket and pulled me along.

Now I was really confused. "Wait, where are you taking me?"

"Principal Prickly."

"But, I didn't do anything wrong!" I was trying to break free of her grip, but she had gotten stronger since fourth grade, the last time I actually had to be dragged away by her. Usually it was TJ who was hauled away.

Finster snorted. "Yeah, likely story. Once we're through with you, you're gonna wish you and your miscreant friends had never pulled a prank in your life."

My eyes widened. "Ms. Finster, I don't know what the heck you're talking about!"

"Yeah, tell that to Prickly," and those were her last words for the rest of tow to the school.

I on the other hand started screaming. "TJ, Vince, Gretchen! Help!" I had few high hopes that they could hear me, but I thought, 'hey, worth a shot.' "Help!"

As we got closer to the school, Finster didn't let anybody get in her way. She pushed kids off to the side with her free arm and I could feel everyone's eyes on me. They even started to whisper. _The nerve of them! _ When I get out of my punishment, I'm going to introduce every single one of them to Madame Fist. I barked at them and that shut them up. _Where on earth is the gang? _Oh, that's right. They're about to pull the biggest prank in the history of Third Street and I'm not going to be able to be a part of it!

At that realization, my heart froze inside my chest. _The prank! _Because Finster dragged me away before I could conclude my part of the plan, the plan is going to ultimately fail.

"Man, this whomps," I said, under my breath.

"What was that, Miss Spinelli?" Finster asked as she shoved me into Prickly's office.

"Nothing, Ms. Finster."

"I thought so." Ms. Finster tapped on Prickly's shoulder, since he was facing the window. "Principal Prickly, sir," _What a kiss-up. _"look what I have here."

Principal Prickly started speaking before he started turning in his chair. "Well, if it isn't TJ Detw-" He stopped talking when he realized that it was me. "Spinelli?"

"Yeah, it's me."

Prickly straightened random things on his desk like pencils and his stapler. "I'm surprised, Spinelli, usually it's Detweiler in here on the last day of school," he said, smoothing out his tie. Seriously, what's with the OCD?

"You're not the only one surprised, Sir," I mumbled, looking down at my feet.

"Where is that boy, anyway?" Prickly asked, completely ignoring me. _Idiot. _"Aren't you two normally always together?"

I felt my cheeks flush and I pretended I didn't hear his question. "I honestly don't know." And I wasn't lying. I mean, I would've known where he was if Finster hadn't caught me. It's funny how it seems the failure of Teej's big prank is gonna fall on her shoulders.

Suddenly, the walky-talky in my bag started making noises again. _Screech. _"Magpie, are you there? It's black widow. We're waiting for your sign but we can't find you." _Screech. _I groaned. Of course he couldn't find me. I was trapped in a room with complete psychos. I turned around to fish the device out of my backpack when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"If I were you, I'd leave it," Finster said, creepily. I stopped and just let TJ and Vince freak out.

_Screech. _"This is Wild Raven here, and I can't find her either. Spinelli, where are you?" _Screech._

"I should've known this year would be no different," Prickly sighed.

"Um, excuse me?" _Was he on to us?_

"Every year, you and your gang of hooligans play a prank on the Third Street faculty, and I don't know why, but I thought this year would've been different." Principal Prickly sounded almost… disappointed?

I cleared my throat. "Um, Principal Prickly, what gave you that idea?"

"I don't know, Spinelli, maybe just the thought that you guys are maturing, growing out of your childish ways," _Whoa, didn't see that one coming, _"but I guess I was wrong."

"With all due respect-" I was interrupted by the dreaded sound of static. _Screech. _ "Spinelli! We checked the kickball field but you weren't there either. If you decided to drop out, the least you could've done was told the rest of us. The fate of this prank is on your shoulders. I hope you're happy." _Screech._

I couldn't look anywhere but at the floor, but Prickly made that hard. "Look me in the eyes, Spinelli." I did. "Now, give me your walky-talky." Hesitantly, I opened my bag, took it out, and lightly tossed it onto his desk. "Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me."

I thought he was just going to put it in the desk drawer that had the rest of the things he's confiscated from my friends and me over the years, but this time, he had different plans apparently.

He pressed the 'talk' button. _Screech. _"Hello, TJ, this is dear Principal Prickly speaking, and I just wanted to let you know that your little shin-dig is out of the bag." _Screech. _Prickly looked straight at me when he said the last part and the tension made me look at the ground again.

TJ and Vince didn't say anything for what seemed like forever and a small sweat started to break out on my forehead. I wiped it away with the sleeve of my jacket. Then, almost out of nowhere, the static was back. _Screech. _"P-Principal Pr-Prickly? Ha- wh-what's up?" _Screech. _Weird. TJ sounded nervous.

_Screech. _"Swell. Say, how's your little prank coming along?" _Screech._

Why the heck is Prickly torturing him like this? I mean obviously it's not gonna happen anymore. Why couldn't he just see that?

_Screech. _"Um, well, you see, sir, we don't have a prank at the moment. As of right now, the prank is off. Ask Spinelli, she'll tell ya." _Screech. _I crossed my arms in front of my chest. That was really low, even for TJ.

Prickly turned to face me and asked, "How about we have some fun with our little friend?" This cannot be good.

"What are you talking about? What kind of fun?" My stomach started to feel queasy.

"Just watch," and he pushed the 'talk' button. _Screech. _"Well, TJ, why should I ask Spinelli? I haven't seen her all day. I figured she was with you and the rest of you scoundrels." _Screech. _I felt my mouth drop open but I quickly shut it. _Oh, no he didn't!_

Ms. Finster (I forgot she was still in the room) just started laughing her head off. Well, I wouldn't call it laughing, more like cackling, like an evil witch.

"Principal Prickly! What are-" He held up his hand which is obviously the universal sign for 'shut-up.' I rolled my eyes and shut my mouth.

_Screech. _"What do you mean you haven't seen her? You have her walky-talky!" _Screech. _Thank you, Captain Obvious.

You could totally tell Prickly was enjoying this. _Screech. _"Au contraire, Detweiler, I just found it on the ground by the kickball field. Spinelli was nowhere near it and I figured it was one of yours, so I picked it up." _Screech. _Man, he is one evil little guy.

"Principal Prickly, you should stop. You have no idea what TJ is capable of," I warned, and I felt hands on my shoulders. Ms. Finster dragged me to the wall and set me down in the chair, and then pointed at me and said 'stay,' like I was some sort of dog or something.

"Miss Spinelli, I know perfectly well what Detweiler is capable of, and since I am the principal I can do what I want," and with that, he cackled like Finster did only minutes before. _Freaks._

Whoops, TJ's back. _Screech. _"What do you mean-" I could hear voices in the background that sounded like arguing, "Never mind, sir, we are coming to your office." _Screech. _

I smirked at Prickly and Finster. "So, Teej and the others are coming here. Where do you expect me to go?"

Prickly and Finster gave me look that said 'thanks for asking,' and pointed to a door on the other side of the room. _Is that a-?_

Oh, no whompin' way. "There is no way you can make me go in there. It's a closet! It's like you're kidnapping me!"

"Oh, c'mon, Spinelli, take it like a man," Ms. Finster said, and she whisked me away into the closet and locked the door behind me.

This cannot be happening.

I searched for a light switch and when I found it and flicked it on, I gasped at what was being shown before me. About a million hangers had suits and golfing outfits hanging off of them and there were shelves of golfing clubs on every wall. Principal Prickly wasn't joking when he said he golfed in his spare time. Heck, the way I see it, he's not even a principal! He's just a golfer that annexed a principal's office for his own personal gain.

The sound of a door slamming open interrupted my thoughts. "Alright, Principal Prickly, we want some answers and we want them now!" Sheesh, TJ sounded mad, and even though I couldn't see, I'd bet anything that he was wearing his signature death glare at the moment. _Wait a minute, there's a crack in the door. I bet I could see out of it! _And sure enough, TJ looked like he was about ready to kill. It kind of made me feel happy that he cared about my safety, ya know? But then I convinced myself that he was only mad because his almost-famous prank was ruined; by Finster, except he didn't know that. Yet.

Principal Prickly crossed his hands and set them on his desk. "TJ, I have no idea what you're talking about." _That sneaky, evil, golfing, princifreak._

I had an intuition to start banging on the door and shouting, but half of me wanted to see how long this could go on. Surprisingly, I wanted to see the others worry about me. Talk about an attention hog.

Next it was Vince's turn to try and get answers out of him. He tried the sympathetic tactic. "Principal Prickly, shouldn't you be worried if one of your students has gone missing? I mean, if Superintendent Skinner finds out, you could lose your job." _Atta boy, Vince!_

The look on Prickly's face was priceless. I guess he never knew that Vince could be so- what's the word? Oh, yeah- right. He snapped out of his trance and shook his head. "I agree with you LaSalle; however, this situation is out of my hands. I have no idea where Miss Spinelli could be and I advise you not to worry about it. She probably just wanted to get a head start on summer vacation, considering you guys only have," he looked at his watch, "2 minutes and 43 seconds left of elementary school." _Clever, Prickly, very clever._

"But, Principal Prickly, isn't that against school rules? Spinelli can't leave school early, even if it _is_ the last day of school." _Kudos to you Gretch._

"Plus, she wouldn't have left in the middle of a mission! And she would've told somebody!" TJ pointed out. _Well aren't you all just a bunch of detectives._

"Well, if that's not the case, then I don't know what is. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some last minute work that needs to get done before the bell rings in one minute. Lousy Board of Education," he added under his breath. "What have I gotten myself into?"

"Fine, Principal Prickly, if you won't help us find her, fine!" TJ spat. "We'll just leave now, and get out of your hair, what you have left, anyway," I saw him tell Vince and they both started cracking up.

I decided this has gone on long enough, so I started screaming. "Hey, guys! I'm in here! Hey, let me out! Guys, guys!" I banged on the door too, but they didn't turn around. _What the-?_

TJ, Vince, Gretchen, Mikey, and Gus kept walking to the door and didn't look back. Why couldn't they hear me? I wasn't dead, was I? That was a scary thought. They got through the door and Gus slammed it, and soon after, I heard the sound of a key coming in contact with the lock and the closet door swung open almost hitting me in the head. "Yo, watch it!"

Ms. Finster grabbed my arm and pulled me out while Prickly glared at me. "Did you try to scream at your friends, and-or bang on the door to try and get their attention?"

"No." _Yes._

"Right," he said unconvincingly. "Anyway, if you _did_ and they didn't hear you or acknowledge you, it was because for some odd reason, my closet is sound-proof." _What! That's not freaky at all._

"Uh, why?"

Prickly rubbed his temples. "I have no idea. It came with the design plan of the school apparently. At least that's what this license says," and he held up a piece of paper that he pulled out of a desk drawer. _Ok, still creepy._

"Whatever you say, Principal Prickly," I said, my heart not really in it and my patience waning. "If we're done here, can I go?" I pointed to the door over my shoulder.

He shook his head and that was the last straw for me. "Alright, Prickly, I am done here and you and Finster can't make me stay a second longer against my will. Spinelli is outta here!" I ran toward the door, swung it open, and ran out and down the hall to the bathroom.

I leaned over the sink and stared at myself in the mirror. A million questions were flying through my mind. _Why isn't TJ, and everyone else, smart enough to ask around the school about my disappearance?_ Kids saw Finster drag me into the school. Surely if TJ and the others cared enough to ask the student body, all signs would point to Prickly. _Should I face them now, or wait 'till the final bell rings, which now that I think about it, should be in- _RINGGGGGG! _Now. _Well, time to face the music, I mean the guys.

I walked out of the bathroom and was bombarded by students of all grades, but instead of being carried out to the front door, I became one with my inner Spinelli and like a carnivorous pit-bull, I pushed my way to Mrs. Smith's room. I knew no one would be in there and I needed some time to think.

I pushed open the door to come face to face with my five best friends. "Uh, hey guys," I said, standing there awkwardly, while they glared at me. Well, everyone except Gus, who exclaimed, "Spinelli! You're okay!"

"Yeah, Griswald, I'm okay," and I quickly grabbed the papers that were stacked on my desk and walked to the door. Unfortunately, TJ and Vince blocked the door so I couldn't walk through.

"Alright, Spinelli, what's wrong with you?"

"Yeah, man, what gives? You ruined the prank!" You don't think I know that?

"It was gonna be the bomb and now it's never gonna happen!" Geez, thanks for making me feel bad.

"This was the last time we could've pulled a prank as awesome as this and you had to-"

"TJ, VINCE, chill!" I screamed at them, every last bit of my patience gone. "I know what I did was bad, but you can't blame me!" Then I realized something as all five of them gave me blank stares. "You know what? Maybe if you actually _cared_, you would've realized that every single kid on the playground knew where I was!" I was getting angrier by the minute, and the worse part? I had no idea why.

"Spinelli, I-" TJ started.

"Save it, Teej! I'm done with you guys!" I didn't really mean it but I was just cranky and exhausted and I think the smell of Prickly's dry-cleaning was finally getting to my head. "Oh, and just so you guys know," I said, half-way out the door, "being kidnapped sucks, so learn some self-defense moves, even though you probably won't even get to use them because the person who drags you away will be like fifty times bigger than you." I walked out the door, without looking back, but I could hear TJ say one last thing before I was out of earshot.

"What have we done?"

Man, you have no idea.

Yeah, so besides the semi-kidnapping and the pointless fight, the last day of sixth grade was pretty memorable. Actually, I don't regret anything.

So what was the thing that ruined everything?

Was it the summer vacation itself? _No._

Maybe?

**So, there was Chapter One, and I'm sorry if it was a bit confusing and if anyone was a bit OOC. If you could tell me who was, I would love you forever. (Not literally)**

**Let me explain what I want to happen. In each chapter, Spinelli asks herself a question about how the past changed the future. (For example, in this chapter, "Was is the summer between sixth and seventh grade?" and then she went on to talk about the last day of school) Each chapter is going to slowly progress into the future until we reach the present point. So I hope you can last that long! :)**

**Anyway, please comment and review! I won't post the next chapter until I have reviews! **

**I also want to thank you for taking the time to read! So, THANKS!**

**-ecStarz**


	3. Chapter 2 Summer Camp Plans

**A/N: Hey! A big thank you to all who reviewed! It really means a lot to me. Oh, and if you are confused about something, just ask me and I'll try to explain it!**

**One thing that I found that might confuse some people are the '***.' The asterisks separate Spinelli's past and present lives. Because most of the story is going to be told in 'flashback' form, I didn't want to write the whole thing in italics, so I separated the sections with the '***.' Hope that clears some things up!**

**Anyway, read on!**

**Chapter 2**

"Miss Spinelli," said a voice that brought me back to reality, "would you care to explain the meaning of an 'anaphora,' since clearly you've been studying a lot in order to make room for daydreaming." My teacher looked up from her computer to stare at me with little black bird eyes.

I felt everyone in the class watch me but I wasn't worried. I actually _did _study, for once in my life. "The repetition of the same words or groups," I said, trying my hardest not to yawn.

The teach squinted at me and said, "Next time, don't let me catch you daydreaming," and I couldn't help but smirk. _What a smart-alec._

"Yes, Mrs. Jones. I'm sorry."

"Right, now back to what I was saying. Anaphora is a rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. By building toward a climax, anaphora can create a strong emotional effect…" And for the second time that day, I droned her out.

But this time, it didn't last very long.

"Nice save," a girl sitting next to me whispered.

I silently groaned and leaned on my elbow with my cheek in my hand. "Thanks, but she really needs to stay out of other people's business."

The girl laughed soundlessly and nodded and went back to taking notes. _She totally understands me._

That girl was Mandy. Mandy and I met when we hit middle school and we sort of 'clicked' and instantly became friends. It also helped that people always got us confused. One of the things we did in our free time together was vent and make up plans to put a stop to it, even though half the time those meetings ended up in conversations that had nothing to do with the matter.

Now, where was I? Oh yeah, thinking about the past.

Even though the gang and I fought on the last day of school, the first day of summer vacation cleared things up and proceeded to head in the 'fun' direction.

The first day of summer vacation was unforgettable…

_Knock, Knock, Knock. _"Pookie?" _Ugh, mom, go away!_

_ Knock, Knock. _"Ashley, time to wake up!" _Did she not know what day it is? First day of summer vacation? No? _"Don't make me come in there!" _Oh, for the love of Mike!_

I rolled over, out from underneath the safety of my pillow and attempted to call out to my ignorant mother. "Mom, why are you making me get up? It's summer vacation for Pete's sake!" I went back under the covers because the light was too much for my weary eyes.

"What are you talking about, Pookie?" Mom said, still talking through the door, "Don't you have school today?" What does she think 'summer vacation' means?

"NO! Now please _go away_!" Sheesh, women.

"I made pancakes, do you want some?"

I wanted to sleep. On the other hand, pancakes sounded _really _good right then. _Oh, what the hey? _"Sure, why not?" It's not like I'd be able to fall asleep again, anyway. "I'll be down in a few."

I probably just brightened my mom's day. "Ok!" She said, cheerfully, and then I heard her walk down the stairs. It doesn't take much to please her.

Groaning and silently shrieking when my eyes hit the light, I rolled out of bed, as if by slow motion, and clumsily stumbled to the door. I rubbed my forehead and blindly reached for the doorknob, grabbing it after missing a few times. I really needed to get my eyesight under control.

Finally making it to the bathroom, I started to get out of my 'bed' state. I brushed my wild hair and took the chance to look at it. My hair was the color of a raven's and it landed just below my shoulders. I didn't know if I should style it or add something to it, considering I was heading into middle school in a mere three months. Eh, I wasn't going to worry about it at the moment.

Next, I pulled my hair into pigtails and washed my face. As I wiped the towel down my face in order to dry it, I examined my eyes. I never really noticed them before, but they were big. Not freakishly big, but they took up a good part of the middle of my face. I don't know, maybe that was normal. Around the pupil, it was chocolaty-brown with a dark blue ring around the outside of the iris. I thought they were pretty, but maybe that was just me.

After several minutes of acting like a freak and examining my reflection in the bathroom mirror, I sighed and left to go eat my probably-almost-cold pancakes. I stomped down the stairs, walked into the kitchen, and dropped into the chair, taking a giant whiff of my mom's famous chocolate-chip pancakes. Well, they're not really _her's_- she bought the mix from the grocery store.

I was in the middle of my fourth pancake when the doorbell rang. _Gosh, who could that be? It's- _I checked the kitchen clock that hung on the wall- _8 o'clock in the morning. _Even I wasn't normally up that early.

I threw the knife and fork down onto the table, wiped my hands on my over-sized pajama shorts, and walked to the front door. Standing on my tip toes, I peeked out of the peep hole and felt my eyes widen involuntarily when I saw who was on the other side of the door.

I sat back on my heels, closed my eyes, and counted to five. I was still pretty peeved about yesterday and I didn't really feel like seeing him so soon. Oh, well. I put on a smile and opened the door.

"Hey, Teej, what are you doing here?" I leaned against the door frame with my arms crossed over my chest. I didn't mean it in a rude way; it was just comfortable.

"Morning, Spinelli, I just, uh- wanted to, uh-" TJ seemed really nervous, and he was stuttering, which was something he almost never did. _Poor guy._

I nodded. "Uh, huh. Go on."

"I wanted to apologize for yesterday." Interesting. "Me and Vince, well, we shouldn't have gotten mad at you like that. We went overboard, and we know it wasn't your fault." Well, ok then.

"Well, that was…" _What exactly _was _that? _"…unexpected." I honestly didn't know what else to say.

TJ lifted his red hat partially off in order to scratch is head. "Then, do you forgive me-" He quickly backtracked, "-I mean us?"

I pretended to look like I was actually contemplating _not_ forgiving him, and I knew it made him anxious. He started shifting back and forth and wasn't looking anywhere except the ground.

"Aw, Teej, I forgive ya," I smiled, and I leaned over to nudge him in the shoulder.

TJ looked so relieved. Like- what? I have never been known to stay mad at my friends for long, right? I mean, even in fourth grade when they called me a jerk, I was over it in a couple days. Why would it be different now? "Thanks, Spin. So, I guess I'll see you later then?"

"Yeah, sure. Why don't you call the guys and we'll all do something together this afternoon?" I suggested.

"Ok, we might as well because a lot of you have camp to go to soon." Was it just me, or was TJ sad?

"Mmhm," I agreed, looking at the ground. "At least this time you have a camp to go to, right Teej?"

He shrugged. "I guess. I mean, sure it'll beat sitting at home for the summer, but I still won't be with my friends."

I gave him a slight smile and put my hand on his shoulder. "It will be ok because you'll make new friends. And just think, it's only for a couple of weeks."

TJ smiled at me. "Yeah, you're right. I'll try to make the most of it."

"Great, now, if you'll excuse me, my pancakes are getting cold," and I let my arm drop to my side and I walked into the house.

He laughed. "Alright, bye Spinelli! Remember our plans for tonight!" He called, as I shut the door. I saw him walk down the driveway with his hands in his jean pockets and walk back to his house that was three houses down the street. _Oh, TJ, there are times when I'm glad you live so close._

And with that, I went to go finish my pancakes.

_Briinnnggg, Brinnggggg. _The bell that signaled that third period was over snapped me back into the present. I swung my backpack over my shoulder and proceeded to walk out the door to my next class. I was half-way out the door when Aaron stopped me. "Hey, Spinelli, wait up!"

I turned around and smiled at my friend and when he caught up we started to walk to History together. I met Aaron this year because he came from a religious middle school, along with about twenty other kids, and this was the only high school they could go to. There were seven periods in the day and Aaron and I had five out of those seven periods together, so we walked to class together most of the time.

"Why do you always look like you're dead in that class?" He asked me as we walked down the hall.

I shook my head. "Because Jones is a boring teacher and it's hard for me to concentrate on what she's teaching, so I figured that I might as well concentrate on something that will get me through the 53 minutes."

"And that would be…"

I sighed. I couldn't really tell him what I was thinking about because odds are he wouldn't believe me. It's high school, things change. I decided to make up something.

"I was mentally studying for the math test. You know, the one we have after journalism?"

"Uh, huh," Aaron laughed, and we walked into Mr. B's classroom. Nobody knows his full name because on the first day of school, he told us to call him 'Mr. B,' and that was as far as anyone ever got. "Sure." It seemed like he didn't buy it. Oh, well.

As soon as we stepped foot into the room, someone screamed my name. "Spinelli!" I looked to see where the voice came from and saw that it was Sarah. Sarah and I met in seventh grade when we had to sit alphabetical by first names in our social studies class. (I insisted that my first name was Spinelli and not Ashley) We were friends, but I wouldn't say we were the best of friends.

"Hey, Sarah, what's up?" I asked, slumping down into my desk. My back was killing me; I think my backpack weighed at least 50 pounds. _It's going to be the death of me._

"Nothing, just wanted to say hi," she said, smiling, and she went back to doing the warm-up assignment that Mr. B wrote on the board. _What a freak._ Well, she was, but I still loved her.

About ten minutes into the class, Mr. B started to drone on and on about the economy of other countries and I figured it was a good time to start dreaming again.

Where was I? Oh, yeah, finishing my pancakes.

After about three more pancakes later, I finally pushed my plate away and leaned back in my chair, holding my stomach. At the moment, I thought the pancakes were amazing and I just wanted to keep eating them, but then, once I was done, my stomach had different thoughts.

Groaning and clutching my stomach, I hobbled over to the couch and collapsed. "Ugh," I moaned, and I reached over to the table to grab the remote. I knew it was summer vacation and I should have been outside playing with my friends, but right then it was morning, I was already on the couch, and I knew wrestling was on, so why not?

As I heard the guys on the T.V scream and punch, I gradually drifted off to sleep. Both of my parents were at work, so I was home alone. I didn't have to worry about being rudely awakened this time.

I don't know how long I was asleep for, an hour maybe? But before I knew it, the phone rang it scared the pants off me. I ran to the phone, almost tripping over my own feet, and answered it with a swift, "Hello?"

"Hey, Spin, it's TJ." _Wasn't he just here like an hour ago?_

"Hey, Teej, weren't you just here about an hour ago?" I asked, exhausted. The run from the couch used up all my energy.

"Uh, no." _What? _"But if by an 'hour ago' you meant this morning, then yeah." _No? Wait- what time is it?_ I walked back into the kitchen and looked at the clock, with the phone still next to my ear. Four-fifteen? _What the-?_

"Woah, sorry. I thought it was earlier," I said, rubbing my forehead. "I took a nap and I guess time got away from me." Yeah, more like I just slept my first day of vacation away.

I heard TJ laugh. "Leave it you, Spinelli, to sleep during the first day of our summer vacation." What a jokester.

"Ha. Ha." I retorted while I paced back and forth in the kitchen, like I was a tiger stalking my prey. Ok, bad analogy, but whatever. "Did you call just to make fun of me?"

"No, me and the guys wanted to see what you were up to? And to see if you wanted to go to Kelso's or whatever." _Aw, how sweet of them to include me._

"Sure, man, I'll meet you all at Kelso's, sound good?" I rummaged through some drawers for some paper and a pen.

"Yeah, totally, see ya then. Bye, Spinelli."

"Bye, Teej," and with that, we both hung up. I grabbed the pen and scribbled a note that said something along the lines of 'Out with the guys, be back later. –S' and stuck it on the fridge for my parents to find when they got home from work. I threw the pen onto the counter and ran up to my room.

I had already brushed my hair and washed my face so the only thing I had to do was actually get dressed in real clothes and not my pj's. I opened my closet and grabbed my over-sized red t-shirt, black leather jacket, and striped tights. _I'm glad I have a signature look. It makes everything easier. _I found my brother's boots by the door and my orange ski cap on my dresser so after I put everything on, I rushed downstairs and out to the garage.

After I opened the garage door, I walked my bike to the driveway and punched in the code to close it again. I hopped onto my bike and rode to Kelso's, eager to meet up with my five best friends.

When I got close enough, I could make out the bikes of Vince, TJ, Gus, Mikey, and Gretchen. So I was the last one? _Great._ I parked my bike next to Gretchen's and walked inside.

I hadn't even sat down before I was met with a chorus of 'Hi, Spinelli' and 'Where have you been?'

"Hey, guys," I said, picking a seat between Mikey and Gretchen, across from TJ, Vince, and Gus. "I fell asleep while watching wrestling and lost track of time." I smiled at Old Man Kelso, who had walked over, and ordered my favorite shake- a strawberry milkshake, drizzled with caramel and chocolate syrup. "It's no big deal."

As I sipped my shake, I listened to what everyone was talking about and from the bits and pieces that I picked up, they were talking about camp. _Oh, brother._

"I'm going to the NASA Space camp again," Gretchen said, eating a fry and punching random buttons on her Galileo. "I had so much fun last summer; I can't wait to go back!"

"Yeah, same with me, except for, uh- you know, military camp," Gus said.

"You like it when Captain Brad screams at you and tells you that you do everything wrong?" Vince asked.

"Yeah, if I were you, I'd punch him until he got the message," I said, cupping my fist and cracking my knuckles in the process. "That would show him."

"Now, Spinelli, violence is not the answer," Mikey said, biting into his ice cream sundae that looked like it was made for two people instead of one. In fact, when he spoke it sounded more like 'Na, Sponli, vilose ens not ta answa.' _What a lug._

I rolled my eyes. "It is when you have a jerk like Bradley to deal with." I turned to face Gus. "If you ever need someone to put that guy in his place, just call me," I grinned mischievously, "I'll be there."

"Thanks, Spinelli," Gus sighed, "but I don't think that'll be necessary. Brad moved on to a different department so my dad is filling in as his replacement. Surely this summer will be better than last." He made slow circles with his spoon on the bottom of his ice cream bowl.

"You don't sound too sure, Gus," Gretchen said.

He looked up from his bowl and shook his head. "No, I'm fine guys, really! It's just…"

"It's just what, Gus?" TJ asked, concerned.

"It's just that it's _summer_ camp." Gus said it like once he said that part, the answer was obvious.

It wasn't.

"What does that have anything to do with it?" I asked, gulping down the last of my shake.

"Summer camp is the place to get away from your parents, and, well, if my dad is there, then that takes most of the fun away!"

"Oh!" TJ, Vince, Gretchen, Mikey, and I said simultaneously. "That makes sense."

Alright, enough about Gus. "So, Teej," I said, drawing out the word. He looked up at me. "This is the first summer you're going to camp. Tell us about it."

"That's right! Our young friend is now starting to blossom like a flower in the spring by going to camp for the first time!" Mikey sang. "Please, TJ, share your anticipations with us."

TJ looked confused but said, "Uh, sure." He took a sip of his smoothie. "I'm going to, uh- soccer camp for a few weeks, just to see if I like it."

That got Vince excited. "Oh, yeah!" He said, slapping a high-five with TJ. "My man's going out for the sports! Dude, you've got to be pumped!"

TJ ginned from ear to ear. "Yeah, I guess I am. I didn't know how I felt about it at first, being the first summer away from this place, but I figured, 'hey, it's time to grow up,' so yeah, I'm pumped."

"You're gonna love camp, Man," I said, reaching across the table and punching him on the shoulder. The statement wouldn't have had any emotion without the hit. "The best experience ever!"

"Ok, I believe you guys," he said, still smiling. "What about you, Spinelli?"

I was too busy thinking about my own camp that I didn't realize TJ was talking to me. "What about me?"

"What camp are you going to this summer?" Oh.

I had a little bit of a dilemma. Usually, my friends and I went to camp close to home, or in-state, so that it would be over in a couple of weeks, but this summer, the only _exceptional _camp was somewhere far away. But they didn't have to know that. "Wrestling camp, for sure! I thought you guys knew me better than that!"

Everyone laughed, but Gretchen was the first one to turn serious again. "For how long?" I guess they did have to know.

"Does it matter?" _Surely, it doesn't._

"Of course it does!" _Oh._ "We all need to plan our summer out carefully so we know when we can all hang out together, so that means we have to know everyone's arrival times back from camp."

"Oh, yeah?" I asked, haughtily, "When are you, Vince, Mikey, and Gus getting back?"

"Two weeks from tomorrow," they all said, together. Well, that's just great.

"Oh," I said, simply, looking down. "Well, I'll be a little longer than that."

"How long, Spin?"

"Uh, about a month…"

"A month?" Everyone shouted.

"…ish."

"Spinelli, why on earth is your summer camp a month-ish long?" Gus asked, bewildered. "Don't you think that's a little much?"

"Where the heck is this camp that you're going to be staying at?" TJ questioned, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Yeah, tell us where, and when our camps get done, we can come visit you!" Gus was getting more excited by the second.

"Guys, I don't think that's a possibility. Well, it might be, but you'd have to have a lot of money saved up." It'd be really expensive for them to fly to and from my camp every day. And driving would just take too long.

"Why would you have to have a lot of money?" Gretchen asked with genuine curiosity. "Isn't your wrestling camp just around here like ours?" Oh, poor confused Gretchen.

"Um, no, not exactly."

"Well, then where is it?"

I took a deep breath. "Denver, Colorado." _Bring on the retorts._

"Denver, Colorado?" Mikey asked, and I nodded. "But why?"

Shrugging, I said, "Hulk Hogan and Jason McGinn are hosting a 'Junior World Wrestling Professionals' camp and I wanted to go." I got blank stares from each one of the guys. "I mean, c'mon! It's _Hulk Hogan_ and _Jason McGinn_!"

Mikey's eyes were glazed over. "And they are?"

My eyes narrowed. "Only the greatest Pro Wrestlers of all time!" I stated. "You big lummox."

"That's great and all, Spinelli, but aren't you going to get homesick? I mean, Colorado is almost 1000 miles away." Ok, TJ had a point, but I wasn't going to let an opportunity like this one pass up.

"Yeah, I guess, but the campers are staying in the dorms of Denver University and look how nice they are!" I pulled a brochure out of my jacket pocket and pushed it to the middle of the table so they could all see it. "It's going to be amazing!"

They all took turns looking at the pictures that were sprawled across the front and the back. "Woah!" Said Vince. "That looks like paradise!"

"Yeah, like a five-star hotel and everything!" Gus added. _Oh, yeah, I know._

"I got to hand it to ya, Spin," TJ said, giving me the brochure back after they were done looking at it, "it seems like you've got everything under control." He smiled at me, "You're going to have a great time, even if you _are_ going to be gone for a while."

"Yeah!" Gus piped up. "We're going to miss you so much! Make sure you write to us every day, and you know, keep in touch!"

I rolled my eyes, but also grinned. "It's not like I'm moving; I'll be back in a month! But, I'll try." And I _was_! I _was_ going to try. "Oh, and you guys have to write me first when you get back from your camps so your parents won't be getting strange letters from halfway across the country! Deal?"

"Deal," they all replied. "So, when are you leaving?"

My grin faded and I looked at the clock that Mr. Kelso had hanging on the wall. "My bus leaves at 5:30 tomorrow morning," I said nauseously, the realization of having to get up super early in the morning hitting me like a ton of bricks. "So I should probably start packing."

"You're riding on a school bus all the way to Denver?" Mikey sang, dramatically. "Oh, the horror!"

I couldn't help but laugh, for some strange reason. "No, big guy, we're riding on a charter bus- a bus that has reclining seats, , and a _bathroom_!" Yeah, it was going to be awesome.

"Wow, Spinelli, you've got everything!"

"Yeah, I know," I said, my smile coming back as I looked around the table at my five bestest friends in the world. "I think I'm going to have a really fun time."

And I was sure of that.

Little did I know, however, that when I got back from camp, some things just wouldn't be the same.

**There's chapter two! It took me a long time to write it because I had to keep rewriting it, even though I still don't like the way it turned out. Oh well.**

**Ok, question: For the next chapter, should I have the gang seeing Spinelli off to camp? Or just skip ahead to when everyone is back at home and writing letters to her? Hmmm decisions, decisions.**

**Anyway, review and comment please! My requirements are still the same- I won't post the next chapter until I have reviews on this one! :)**

**THANKS! And remember, if you're confused, just ask me!**

**-ecStarz**

**P.S- Forget what I said about the chapters in the last chapter… that's going to take too long so it will probably be every other chapter from now on. I'll let you know if that changes too. THANKS!**


	4. Chapter 3 The Letter

**A/N: Hey! So, I've decided that I'm just gonna let the story go where it wants and not really have a set plan for it… so here's chapter three. Sorry if it took a while to put up- I broke my metacarpals so typing is little hard.**

**Anyway, read on! And thank you so much for the reviews!**

**Chapter 3**

Instead of reminiscing my summer camp experience, the bell rang again, signaling that it was the time for lunch. My class had second lunch which meant that after I ate, we had to go back to History, or our fourth period.

I stood up and followed Sarah, Aaron, and Conner, a six-foot tall ginger who I also met in seventh grade, out the door and down to the lunchroom. For the first few minutes, our class was the only one in the hallway, but soon after, the hallways were filled with freshies, sophies, juniors, and seniors, all pushing to go get something good to eat.

The one thing I loved about high school was the food. There was just so much variety! You could get Footer Sub sandwiches, burgers and fries, salads, pizza, cookies, chips, PowerAde, brownies, and then anything the lunch ladies wanted to make for the day. It was so much better than middle school and elementary school lunches. The bad thing was that it was _way_ more expensive.

After I paid for my pizza and milk, I walked over to the lunch table that I shared with Sarah, Hope, and other people who I never bothered to learn their names. Second lunch was smaller than the other lunches, so there weren't a lot of people I was friends with that I could sit with. I would have sat with Aaron and Conner, but Sarah had a phobia of eating in front of boys, whatever that was about. Having grown up with the gang, I didn't have to worry about that problem.

Hope moved here in 8th grade into the house that was right next-door to mine. She was so smart, it was like she was a mini-Gretchen. In fact, they once challenged each other, and let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. I kind of took her "under my wing" because she was having a hard time making friends, but as I got to know her, I understood perfectly well why.

While Sarah was busy txting her friend who was on her volleyball team, Hope was talking to me about how she aced her science test, and honestly, I couldn't have cared less.

This is literally what I heard. "So then I was like blah, blah, blah, but _then_ I thought blah, blah, blah, and Ms. Connie blah, and said, blah, and then I got a blah, blah, blah, on the test. I blah, blah, blah." _Like, seriously?_

I couldn't take it anymore so I started to zone out again, because I had gotten so good at it in the last two hours.

I started thinking about the day I left for camp and unfortunately, it started out horrible…

I was awakened from a peaceful dream by the annoying sound of my door slamming open. I mean, seriously? Do people ever knock anymore?

"Pookie, honey? You've got to wake up. Now would be the best time." She sounded frantic. Oh mother, why do you always do this to me?

Yawning and rolling over, I said, "Mom, did you forget what time of the year it is? It's summer vacation. Look up the definition." And I pulled the covers back over my head.

"I know that, Ashley dear, but I forgot to wake you up to leave for camp! It's five o'clock and we have to be at the bus stop by five fifteen!" I heard thumping and I came to the conclusion that she was trying to lug my suitcase and duffle bag out of my room. _Ha, nice try lady. If I can barely lift it, what makes you think you can?_

Then what my mother said finally clicked. I was going to be late for camp.

I quickly threw myself off of the bed. That is, I would have if I was on the bed to begin with. "Uh, mom? Why am I lying on the floor?" I asked as I picked myself up and started rushing around the room, putting last minute items into my bag.

"You fell asleep while packing and it looked like you pulled the blanket off your bed to warm yourself up," she said, staring at one of my shirts and throwing it blindly into the bag, not that I needed it. _Thanks Mom._

"And you didn't bother to actually put me _in_ my bed?"

"Sweetie, I didn't want to wake you…" Mom said, trailing off. _Yeah, right._

I rolled my eyes and zipped up my bag. "Anything would have been better than sleeping on the floor, even being woken up."

I was still in the same clothes I had on last night when I fell asleep, and because I didn't want to waste any more time, I kept them on and just brushed my hair, put on my boots, and put on my hat. I knew I would smell but I figured only a little, and it wasn't like I was doing anything today except riding on the bus. Since I didn't have any friends going to this camp, I didn't have to worry about anyone sitting next to me. Don't worry, I had everything figured out.

"Are you ready to go? I'll go get the car ready," and my mom ran out the door.

I shook my head, swung my bag over my shoulder, grabbed my suitcase in my left hand, shut my bedroom lights off, and followed her. I grabbed a protein bar on the way out because there was _no _way I'd have time to have a real sit-down breakfast. I threw my stuff in the trunk and hopped into the back seat, leaning on the window. Since it was five in the morning, I figured I could catch a few more zzz's.

I wasn't asleep for long and apparently we were getting close because before I knew it, my mom woke me up. Again.

"Ah, look Pookie! Your little friends are here!" _Huh?_

It took me awhile to register what she said, but the first thing that came out of my mouth was, "What, why are they in Denver?"

"Honey, you haven't even gotten on the bus yet!" _Oh._ "There's Gretel, Vance, Rus, Mickey, and, oh! Ashley, there's BJ!" She said 'BJ' all cutesy and teasing-like. _Oh, brother._

"Mom, for the last time," I said, walking to the trunk after she parked, "it's Gretchen, Vince, Gus, Mikey, and for Pete's sake, mom, it's TJ! _T_-J. Gosh!" She was starting to make me mad. "Anyway, I'll see you in a month! Bye-" I had started to walk away when I was suddenly attacked by my mother. "Woah, woah, woah. Woah." _Where did she come from?_

"I just wanted to give you a hug before you leave, Pookie! I'm going to miss you!" And I was engulfed in large arms.

"Yeah, mom, I love you to. Now, I have to go," I said and I pushed her away (Gently!) and walked over to where I was supposed to check in.

"Bye, Ashley!" _Sheesh._

I turned around with a smile and said, "Bye, Mom!" And walked over to one of the camp counselors.

I walked up to the guy hesitantly and just stood there, probably looking like a complete nutcase because I didn't know what to say.

He looked up from and clipboard and gave me the biggest smile ever. Like, it was almost creepy. "Hi there, and your name is?"

Narrowing my eyes, I said, "Spinelli." Then a guy, out of nowhere, came over to us and took my luggage and started to walk away with it. "Hey, come back here!" I was about to run after him when the clipboard-holding guy put a hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay, Miss, he's just putting your things under the bus in the luggage compartment. It's going to be okay." Well, that makes sense. He then turned his attention back to his clipboard and after a couple seconds, his grin slowly turned into a puzzled look. "I can't seem to find the name 'Spinelli.' Is there another name you go by? Or is that your first name?" _Oh, no._

I gritted my teeth. "Ashley. Check Ashley Spinelli."

He checked for the name Ashley and sure enough, his grin was back. "Ah, there it is, Ashley!" He started to write something down. "Now, let's just get you a name tag-"

"No, wait!" He froze with his eyes wide and I could feel my face turn red. "I mean, just put my last name on there. I usually go by Spinelli."

He relaxed. "Oh, ok. Sure thing, kid." And he scribbled 'Spinelli' on a sticker and gave it to me to stick on my shirt. I took it gratefully. I was going to try my hardest to not let any of the campers here know that my real name was Ashley because I mean, c'mon, do you know of any great wrestlers with the name of Ashley? No? Didn't think so. "Just be on the bus in about fifteen minutes and everything will be good to go." And he walked away to help the next camper in line, who, not surprisingly, was a boy. I had already figured that I was going to be one of the few girls, if not the only one at all, here going to this camp.

I sighed and turned around to go find my friends who had the heart to get up and see me off to camp.

"Spinelli, over here!" I turned to face the direction of where TJ screamed from and walked over there, being a little unbalanced because I was tired.

After walking quite a distance, I finally met up with the gang. "Hey guys, what are you all doing here?"

Vince was the first to speak. "What, we can't see our best friend off to a month-long camp?" Well, they sure weren't letting the fact that I was going to be gone for a month, go. _What a bunch grudge-holders._

"Yeah, ok, but it's five-fifteen in the morning," I pointed out.

"Well, we couldn't let you leave without saying good-bye," TJ said, swinging his arm over my shoulders. "We'd miss you too much." _Aw._

"Don't worry, I'd miss you guys, too-" I started to say, but was cut off by a hysterical Gus.

"Oh, Spinelli, please don't go! Do you know how much danger is in Colorado? I heard there are huge bears that could bite your head off and don't forget about abominable snowmen! You could die and we'll never see you again!" He cried, jumping onto me in a way that I think was supposed to be some sort of hug. The gesture was sweet but it was also just plain weird.

"Ugh, get offa me!" I said, pushing him off. "There are no such things as abominable snowmen! If there were, I would have heard about them," I said, jabbing my thumb into my chest.

"Spinelli's right," Gretchen said, pushing her glasses up further on her face and punching some buttons on Galileo. "Even if it were true, there would only be a small percentage that she'd be eaten alive and that would only be if she was staying in the mountains, which I doubt she would be." She turned to me and asked, "Are you staying in the mountains, Spinelli?"

I opened my mouth to answer her but TJ beat me to it. "No, she's not!" He noticed that I raised my eyebrow and caught himself. "I mean, yeah, are you, Spin?"

I shook my head. "I don't really know, but if I am, I'm pretty sure I could handle a couple of snowmen and bears," and I cracked my knuckles.

"Are you sure, Spinelli? I mean, snowmen aren't dangerous or anything, but bears can be vicious," Mikey said, pulling out a Winger-Dinger from his pocket and taking a bite.

"Oh, c'mon, guys, really? I think I can take care of myself. I _promise _I'll be okay." Ok, I had never thought about the possibility of all the wild-life in Colorado, and I had to admit, the thought kind of gave me the willies, but I wasn't going to worry about it. At least, not right now.

The guy-with-the-clipboard's voice came over a loudspeaker. "Last call for all campers boarding the bus! I repeat: any camper who is not on the bus in five minutes _will_ get left behind."

I turned toward my friends. "Well, this is it, I have to go."

They all looked really sad and I couldn't figure that one out. I was only going to camp. They were going to camp soon, too! Why am I the only one getting special attention? "Bye, Spinelli, we'll miss you!" and everyone came at me with a big group hug, that was _almost_ suffocating.

"I'm going to miss you too, guys! Don't change too much, while I'm gone." I said it in a joking way, but Mikey took it seriously.

"Don't worry, my dear Spinelli, I won't let that happen."

I smiled. "Thanks, big guy," and I broke away from the hug. "Bye, guys, I'll see you in a month," I waved and started to walk towards the bus, but then stopped and turned around when I remembered something. "Oh, and don't forget to write me!"

"We won't forget, Spin! We'll see you later!"

I smiled and kept walking and when I arrived to the bus, I climbed on and was relieved to see that there still empty rows left. I made my way through the semi-crowded bus and sat in a window seat.

I was looking out the window, seeing my five best friends standing by the gate, when clipboard guy came over the intercom again. "Alright, if everyone is here, we are going to be going on our way." And the bus driver started the engine and started to pull out of the lot.

As the bus passed the gang, I waved at them and fortunately, they saw me through the tinted windows and waved back. I smiled to myself and leaned back in my seat I was going to miss them so much.

But I was also going to experience one of the best months of my life. I was going to bet on it.

"Spinelli? Spinelli!" Hope was snapping her fingers in my face trying to get my attention. Sometimes I didn't like that girl at all.

"What?" I asked, annoyed. I was just getting to a good part.

"It's time to go back upstairs," Sarah said, not looking at me but at her phone.

Oh. _Great._ "Ok, then, let's go." Sarah and I pushed through the crowds of people that were leaving from second lunch and who were heading to third lunch. Like I said before, second lunch had the smallest amount of people and third lunch had the most.

As we walked past the counseling center, I heard a yell behind me, so I made Sarah stop with me and turn around to see what was happening. Sure enough, some idiotic senior boys were getting into a fight. Like a full-blown fist fight. And people were already starting to gather around them, laughing and holding up camera phones.

I only knew one of the boys' names but I'd seen them around school before and coincidentally, the boy whose name I knew appeared to be winning. Nick was punching the other guy and slamming his head into the brick wall but then something strange happened. The boy who was getting beaten up's brother tried to come in between the fight to put a stop to that, but I guess Nick didn't like that because soon he knocked him unconscious. It was awesome.

I had the familiar sense of wanting to fight with them but I didn't for two obvious reasons. 1) It had been a while since I did any fighting and I wanted to keep my streak because of the trouble I got into last time for it; and 2) I was only a freshman and they were seniors, so naturally they could literally kill me and I didn't want to get into any more trouble than I was already in.

It wasn't long before our assistant principal came and officially broke up the fight, but what I found funny was that there was a teacher who came out of the staff bathroom, which was right next to where the fight was happening, and just turned around and walked in the other direction without doing anything about it. _Chicken._

Mr. Ford came over and pulled Nick off of the other guy and sent him to his office, and once he brushed off the guy, who unfortunately had a bloody nose and a black eye, he sent him there, too.

Turned out, both guys got suspended for a week. _Tender, _I thought, and I immediately thought of TJ. I shook my head to get him out of my head and walked away to class with Sarah. I didn't need him lurking around in my mind, that road ended long ago.

As Sarah and I walked into the classroom, we were surrounded by the talk of the fight that had happened moments before. I groaned and just collapsed in my desk waiting for Mr. B to start the lecture again. I didn't want to be reminded of why I was in still in trouble for what happened in the first week of school, even though it was well into December now.

Mr. B calmed the class down after a couple of tries and I mentally thanked him. But then I mentally cursed him because he started talking about boring things again.

For what seemed like the millionth time that day, I zoned out and starting thinking about summer again. What part was I at when Hope snapped at me?

Oh, yeah. The bus ride.

I was staring out the window when I got the feeling that someone was standing at the edge of my seat. I turned around with my famous death glare plastered on my face, about ready to tell off the guy who was creeping on me. When I saw who it was, I became half-annoyed, half-relieved.

It was another girl.

The girl seemed like she was quiet and it didn't help the fact that I just gave her the impression that I was mass murderer with my death-glare look. "A-are you Sp-Spinelli?" She stammered.

I folded my arms. "Why, who's asking?" Even though she seemed like a nice kid, I wasn't going to go easy on her. Not yet, anyway.

"Just me. Can I sit down?" _But I'm smelly!_

"Uh, sure, I guess," I said, uncertainly, and I moved the bag that the freaky guy didn't take and put it on the floor next to my feet.

I went to go back to staring out the window again, but not before Little Miss Quiet started blabbering. "So you are Spinelli?" _Didn't she already figure that out?_

"Yep, always and forever."

She broke out into a huge grin. "Great, 'cause I'm your roommate!"

If I had been drinking any type of liquid at the moment, then I would have spit it out like those amazing spit takes you see on TV. "Room-what?" I remember seeing that the brochure said that the campers were staying in dorms but I figured it was a 'one person per room' sort of deal. The thought of sharing a room with somebody else had never crossed my mind.

Her grin faltered. "You didn't know?" I shook my head and she sighed. "We were assigned to be dorm mates where we stay in the same dorm?" I nodded because obviously I understood that part. "You should have gotten that information when you checked in!" Oh, well I didn't.

"Oh, I was too busy saying good-bye to my friends," I sighed, my mind drifting back to them.

She nodded understandably. "I took a while to say good-bye to my friends too; however, we did it last night because they said there was no way that they would be getting up at four in the morning," and she laughed. _Well, that's one of the many ways my friends and your friends are different._

I decided that I should probably get to know her name, since we were going to be rooming together and everything. "So, girl, what do they call ya here?" _I swear, if it's Ashley, I'm gonna start throwing some punches with Good 'Ole Madame Fist._

"Kyoda." _Well, at least it's not Ashley._

"Um, excuse me?" What kind of name was that?

She laughed. "That's the reaction I get every time I tell someone my name. It's like how you say 'coyote,' except the 't-e' at the end is replaced with 'd-a.' _Kyoda._" Interesting. Very interesting.

I actually liked it. "That's a really cool name! I've never heard of a name like that before."

"Thanks! I hate it, though, because you can't find souvenirs with that kind of name on it. It gets annoying after a while. Although, you probably know the feeling."

"What do ya mean?" The last time I checked, 'Ashley' was the most common name ever and my grandparents were always getting me key chains and mugs with it scribbled across it.

Kyoda looked confused. "Is Spinelli a common name and I'm just the only one who has never heard of it before?" _Oh, yeah!_

I quickly shook my head. "No it is, I just got confused for a minute." I gave her a small smile, hoping she would catch on and let it go.

"It's okay, I get confused all the time, too." _Smart girl._

And that's how I became acquainted with Kyoda. The rest of the bus ride consisted of time spent by talking about how we got involved with wrestling (Kyoda's dad pretty much sent her to that camp against her will but she insisted that she's open-minded and is going to give it a shot), what we looked forward to in our futures (She was in the same grade as me and also like me, we weren't looking past the summer), making fun of the other kids on the bus, and, of course, sleeping. She wasn't actually like me, but who wants to be friends with someone who is?

One thing is for sure, I was so glad she wasn't an Ashley.

After the bell rang to leave fourth period and head to fifth, the rest of day passed in a kind of a hazy state.

I remember taking my journalism test, but I don't remember ever _arriving_ at journalism. Plus, I think I did pretty badly on it, but I saw that one coming from a mile away. Mr. Henson was a psychotic freak who thought every student was superman and could accomplish multiple things at one time. In case you're wondering- no, we aren't.

Because I was taking a test, I figured it wouldn't be a good idea to space out, because in high school, tests and quizzes are a big part of your grade. Just another thing to separate high school from middle and elementary school.

Math was a different story, however. We were learning about proofs and I knew I should have been paying attention, but in my opinion, those were the hardest things to learn in geometry, and I'd rather keep continuing my story for the next 53 minutes.

So here we go… two weeks later.

The next two weeks of the 'Junior World Wrestling Professionals' camp went by in kind of blur. But it wasn't a boring blur; it was a fun blur.

After the bus arrived in Denver, we were taken to Denver University's dorms and were told to unpack. I was about to ask for the keys when Kyoda held them up in front of my face.

"I have them, another thing you were supposed to get when you checked in," She told me.

"Oh, well, thanks," I said, taking my key. I wasn't really sure about what to say.

We hustled up to our room, eager to start unpacking, but when we opened the door, we stopped in our tracks. It was the most beautiful thing we had ever seen. Granted, we were a couple of seventh graders who had not really left Arkansas their whole lives, so it was pretty special.

There were two twin beds, each pushed to one side of the room, and desks that lined the back wall. There were also a full-sized fridge, microwave, TV, stereo, and get this- we had our own bathroom! It was like living the life.

After we called our beds and put everything in their rightful places (my rightful places were everywhere, if ya know what I mean), we were called downstairs for a meeting. The meeting consisted of mostly going over the schedule and the rules and expectations, etc.

"Alright, hello campers!" Greeted the guy-with-the-clipboard. _Man, he's everywhere!_ "My name is Kevin, and I'm your head counselor this month." Great, clip-board-guy now has a name, and it's Kevin. "Let's start by going over the schedule. Breakfast starts each day at seven a.m., in the dining hall that's located here in the dorms and lasts till seven forty-five. You can either get ready for the day before breakfast, or you can wait till after breakfast, but either way, you need to be ready to leave by eight." I started thinking that I would get ready before breakfast to save some time. _I wonder what Kyoda is going to do?_ "At eight, the bus will leave and take you all to the Civic center where the arena is set up. There you'll work on signature moves with Hogan and McGinn," that sentence was met with loud applauses and cheers, _figures_, "'till about 1 and then you'll eat lunch at the center. Lunch break is from one to two. The afternoon sessions will then begin at two-fifteen and will last until five thirty and then the bus will bring you back here. At five forty-five we will have a nice dinner that will be a surprise each night, but since this is the first day, I'll let you all in on a secret: Tomorrow's dinner is going to be pizza!" More cheers, more applauses, but even I had to admit I was excited. I _loved_ pizza. Kevin apparently wasn't done yet, "After dinner you guys can have free time 'till lights out which is eleven o'clock." He looked at his watch. "Since it's about eight thirty now, you guys can go have fun till it's time for bed! Now, disperse, and I'll see you bright and early at breakfast at seven!"

And everybody jumped up and ran up to their rooms, including me and Kyoda.

Kevin wasn't joking when he said that that was what we were going to be doing every day, because for the next two weeks, we did exactly that. It was pretty uniform- everyone woke up, ate, wrestled, ate, wrestled, ate, played, slept. Just like that, for two weeks. Well, it was all the same until the dinner of the seventeenth night of camp.

Dinner was the time where the counselors of the camp handed out emails and letters that the family members of the campers wrote to them. I usually didn't get anything; my mom and dad sent one during the first week of the month but then they didn't send any more. I wasn't expecting anything from TJ and the gang either because I figured they forgot. I knew their camp ended a while ago and I hadn't received anything from them so… this was unexpected.

Kyoda and I were sitting at the table we labeled as ours (because we sat there every night), along with Samantha and McKenna (the only other girls in the whole camp), Jake, Jesse, and Joey, who were triplets. We all became friends when we realized we all weren't a bunch of conceited snots.

Anyway, Kevin was reading off the names of people who received letters and/or emails that night and the triplets' and Kyoda's names were already called. I just played with my spaghetti noodles because I knew that it would just be another night where I sat at the table and-

"Spinelli." The sound of my name caught me off guard.

I quickly swallowed. "What?" I asked Kyoda who was reading her letter.

She pointed to where Kevin was standing. "You got a letter! Go get it!"

_I got a letter?_ For some reason the thought made me happy. I wanted it to be from my friends, but at this moment, even my parents would have been acceptable. I pushed my chair away from the table, wiped my hands on my shorts in a Spinelli-like manner, and walked up to Kevin. He held out a piece of paper and I took it reluctantly. _Did I really want to read it?_

Yes, I did, but for all I knew, it could have contained bad news and I wasn't really in the mood to be upset right now. But I did _really_ want to read it.

I walked back to my seat, sat down, and put the piece of paper face down in front of me. "Aren't you going to read it?" McKenna asked, shoving a forkful of pasta into her petite-sized mouth.

I didn't say anything because I was having an inner battle with myself. Eventually, the weak side lost and I decided to open and read it. Here's what it said, right in black and white:

"Hey Spinelli,

We got the camp's email address from your parents and we used Gretchen's computer to write this. So, if you haven't figured it out already, it's TJ, Gretchen, Gus, and Mikey. We all decided to pitch our ideas into one email instead of four so you wouldn't get bombarded with pieces of paper.

So, how's camp? It's hard to believe you're still going to be in Colorado for another three weeks. Your camp isn't even halfway over yet! Soccer camp was amazing for me (TJ) and I found out that I am actually good at it. Maybe, when we get to high school, I'll play soccer for the school? Just a thought. Anyway, hope you're having fun and here's Gretchen.

Hey, Spinelli! How are you doing on this fine morning? Well, let me backtrack. It will probably be evening by the time you receive this message, so, how are you doing this fine evening? I am doing particularly well. I arrived home from Space Camp a couple days ago and I had the most splendid time. I learned information ranging from facts about the moon's surface to how to work controls on the Space Station. How is your camp going? Well, let me give you Gus because he is practically grabbing the keyboard out from underneath my fingertips. Adieu!

Spinelli! It seems like it's been forever since we've seen you, but TJ and Gretchen have been assuring me that you're fine and have not been eaten by bears. (Yet) In case you're wondering, military camp was great for me! You know how I was worried that my dad being at camp wouldn't make it fun? I was wrong; I had a blast! I don't know what I was worried about! How's wrestling with Hulk and Jason? I looked them up and you were right. They are amazing, even though I don't know much about wrestling. But that's not the point. Anyway, see you soon and I hope you'll write back!

Aw, my dearest Spinelli. How have you been these past few weeks? I have been swell, if you were to ask. My poetry and chorus groups and I have had the most marvelous time learning about the great William Shakespeare and singing for City Hall. It's quite wonderful. I hope you are having a wonderful time in Colorado like I have been having here. Please write back when you can!

Hey, Spin, it's TJ again. If you noticed, Vince wasn't a part of this, and he would have been, but for some reason, he's not talking to us right now, and none of us know why. It's even stumped Gretchen. We tried calling him but his mom answered the phone and said to not call there again, so we don't know what's up. We also rode our bikes over to his house, but it looked like the abandoned house we visit on Halloween. Anyway, that's why it took so long to write you, and don't worry, your friends didn't forget about you. Well, maybe Vince, but who knows?

Sincerely, TJ, Gretchen, Gus, Mikey, and Vince (In spirit)"

_Well, this can't be good._

**So, that's it. I'm sorry if Mikey and/or Gretchen's part in the letter is OOC… I'm just not that smart or into Shakespearean language.**

**There's a reason why I didn't put what kind of trouble Spinelli got into on her first day of school and that's because it's going to come out in later chapters!**

**Soooo… if you liked it, PLEASE REVIEW! And if you didn't like it, still review because I want to know what to change… and I'm open for suggestions for anything! THANKS! :)**

**-ecStarz**


	5. Chapter 4 Confusion

**A/N: Hey! Thanks for the reviews, but keep them coming! More reviews = more updates! Anyway, here's chapter four!**

**Thanks for taking the time to read, so read on!**

**Chapter 4**

As soon as the bell rang for school to be out, I rushed out of the building and out to my mom, who was waiting for me in the car. There were sometimes when I hated the fact that I wasn't sixteen because it was really embarrassing when my mom picked me up from school. Usually, I rode my bike to school, but it was raining and I didn't want my bike to come alive like it did that one day in fourth grade. Though, till this day, I still believed it was all just a weird dream.

I hopped in the car and quickly slammed the door behind me, trying not to get more wet than I already was. "Hey, Pookie, how was school today?"

I closed my eyes. "Mom, I'm in high school now. Can you _please_ stop calling me 'Pookie?'?"

"Sure, Ashley, how was school today?" I sighed. At least it was better than 'Pookie.'

"It was fine. I think I had a test in one of my classes, but I don't remember," I groaned, rubbing my temples.

"You don't remember? What on earth were you doing that you don't remember what you did?"

"I dunno; mostly daydreaming." I could tell my mom anything now, as long as she promised not to repeat anything I told her.

She pulled into our driveway and put the car in park. "About what?"

"TJ, Vince, Gretchen… everyone." I opened the door and hopped out and raced into the garage. My mom got out, too, and followed me.

She looked at me sympathetically. "Do you miss them?"

I walked through the door and threw my backpack on the kitchen table. "Yeah, I guess, but I have new friends now, so I don't really care." Actually, I did care, but I wasn't going to let my mom know that. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going upstairs." _To check my Facebook. _Almost everyone in the school had one, except Gretchen. She told me it was 'too demeaning' and 'a complete waste of valuable studying time.' She may be right, but I wasn't going to miss out on juicy gossip.

"Alright, if you want to talk, I'll be here," she called after me.

"Thanks, mom!" And I meant it.

When I got to my room, I closed the door behind me and went straight to my closet. Facebook could wait 'til later. I grabbed my desk chair and placed it in front of my shelf. I had to use some extra height because I was a whompin' 5'2", a shorty for my grade. I wasn't worried, though; my doctor said I would have my final growth spurt this summer, so I was excited about that.

I grabbed a shoe box off the top shelf, and hopped off the chair. Cradling the box in my arm, I walked out of my closet and set it on my bed. I lifted the top off the box and thumbed through the different assortments of letters, certificates, pictures, etc., until I came to the one I was looking for. The letter. I still kept it after all these years, probably because it reminded me of one of the last times we were all best friends, even though I still didn't remember the time where everything went wrong.

As I read the last paragraph, memories started coming back, and I started to daydream once again.

I pushed my plate away from me and stared dumbfounded at the letter. After reading the last paragraph, my appetite somehow disappeared and was replaced with gun-wrenching agony. Only one thought was stirring through my mind and that was _what was wrong with Vince?_

"Are you ok, Spinelli?" Kyoda asked, with a mouthful of food. The nod of my head slowly turned into a shake and I handed her the piece of paper with my finger hovering over the paragraph that had me concerned. She took a few moments to read it and her eyes widened. "What does that even mean?"

I shrugged and said, "I have no idea." I fingered the letter that she gave back to me and reread it. "I don't even think I want to find out."

"Well, _I _do," she said, "so if you won't ask, then I'll write them a letter and pretend that I'm you." For some reason that made me feel a little… violated.

Shaking my head vigorously, I said, "No, no, no, that's fine. I'll write back and ask. D'ya have any paper?" _Sheesh._

Kyoda's face lit up. "Yeah! Just a sec," and she reached under the table to get paper out of her bag. She came up with a stack of paper that included a variety of colors. "Pick one."

I picked gray because it was the color of my mood, but apparently she didn't understand that.

"Gray, seriously?" She asked, giving me the 'look.' I just ignored her, pulled out a pen and started writing. Because I didn't want to be rude, I responded to everyone's section of the letter.

After a couple mess-ups and restarts, the letter resulted in this:

"Hey TJ, Gretchen, Gus, and MIkey,

It's so nice to hear from you guys! I really thought you forgot about me when you didn't send me anything when the two weeks were up, but now I know why.  
>Anyway, camp is great! I've learned a lot, even though some of what they're teaching me, I already knew and perfected because Lawson gave me no choice. What a jerk. I was having an amazing time until you dropped the bomb about Vince, but I'll ask about that later.<p>

So, TJ, soccer player, huh? Sweet. :) At least we now know that you won't be a complete loser later on in life. Aw, I'm just kidding with you and I'll be rooting for you when you make the high school team. I'm glad that you found something you enjoy. And yep, only three more weeks left and then I'll be back home hanging with you guys! See ya soon, and write back!

Well, Gretchen, it's great to know that you had fun at your camp but for me, it's hard to believe you actually had fun learning about that stuff. But, yeah, my camp was fun and I think you would've gotten a kick out of learning about the scientific stuff behind wrestling moves. Maybe you should join me next year and work on your self-defense. :) Write back!

Wow, Gus, when I read your part, I actually started to laugh. I'm having fun at my camp but unfortunately, I haven't been eaten alive. ;) I'm glad that you were able to have fun with your dad being there and don't worry, I did/am writing back. Now, you have to write back too. See you in three weeks!

Hey big guy, I can't believe that you sang for City Hall! Isn't that like a big honor or something? I am having a 'swell' time at camp, too, and will you please reassure Gus that I'm fine? A huge thanks. Have fun learning about poetry and write back when you can!

Ok, now Vince. What the heck is his problem? You haven't talked to him since he got back from camp? Are you sure he's mad at you guys and not that he's just busy? I mean, c'mon, we all know Vince and I'm pretty sure you guys haven't done anything to make him mad. Just keep me updated so when I get back, I won't have missed anything. See you guys soon!

~Spinelli"

Trying to keep my composure and not look nervous, I took my letter to where Kevin was eating and held it out to him. "Here's my letter to give to my family back home," apparently friends weren't allowed to write to the campers so TJ and the gang were now my distant, _distant_, cousins, "and I was wondering if you could send this in an email to them? The address is on the back," I pointed.

Kevin took the paper. "Sure thing kid," he said, looking it over. "So you're really close with your cousins, aren't you? Especially-" He looked back down at the paper, "-TJ."

I looked at the floor, feeling my face turn red. "Closer than ever," I mumbled, and I turned to walk back to my table. "Where's Sam, Kenna, Jake, Jesse, and Joey?"

"They went back to their rooms, but I'm here for ya," Kyoda said, punching me in the shoulder.

I forced a smile. "Thanks, Ky, but we can go, too. I gave the letter to Kev and he said he would email it for me." I started walking toward the stairs. (I strongly believed that the elevators were for wussys)

"That's good! When they reply, tell me what they said." She seemed oddly excited for the answer.

"Ok, I promise." And we headed upstairs to hang out with Samantha, McKenna, and the triplets.

I couldn't wait until TJ and the gang wrote back. Hopefully with some answers.

I smiled at the thought of Kyoda; she truly was an amazing friend. I put the letter aside and started sorting through the box of things that I probably shouldn't have kept but did anyway. It took me awhile but I finally found the email that I had written to them. I didn't even know why I had it. TJ, Gretchen, or anybody should have kept it, but when TJ handed it to me and said 'Here, Gretchen's pretty mad, and she told me to give it back to you,' it created a sliver in my heart.

I read _that_ letter and thought about the stress that she put me through.

I couldn't even concentrate on my wrestling the last weeks of camp; I was only thinking about the gang. It had been a week and they hadn't responded. _What is taking them so long? _Not being able to concentrate wasn't a problem for me, though, because the things we were learning, I had mastered in fifth grade. I may sound conceited but Lawson didn't give me a choice not to.

I don't think I acted like myself either because Kyoda always asked me if something was wrong. I told her no and that I was just tired. After that, I always tried my best to fake like I was enjoying myself, even though all I could think about was Vince and if he was acting any normal at all.

Even on the bus ride home, I kept rereading the letter over and over and over again, trying to see if I could find something hidden that could give me answers. I came up with nothing. And what made it worse is that they had never written back.

I had looked over at Kyoda a couple times but she was either reading or sleeping.

Sooner or later, we were home and I was so glad. It was probably later rather than sooner but because I was in deep thought for most of the ride, it seemed like a short-ish amount of time.

I hopped off the bus, hugged Kyoda, Sam, Kenna, and the triplets goodbye, and grabbed my luggage out from the compartment. I walked away to find my parents to take me home. I wasn't in the mood to have heartfelt goodbyes.

"Pookie, over here!" _Great._

I saw my mom and dad wave enthusiastically from over on the other side of the bus lot and I just started to walk over there, not saying anything.

I was about ten feet away from the car when my mom obviously couldn't hold in her excitement any longer and rushed over to me to swallow me in a hug. My dad was close behind her and soon, I was being suffocated. "Hey, mom, dad, I- I can't br- breathe!" I tried to push them away but my hands were busy holding luggage, so all I could do was stand there and take it.

"Sorry, Ashley, but we've missed you so much!"

Suddenly, it's like all the anger that had been building up inside of me just exploded. "Then why didn't you write to me? Or at least email me?" I nearly screamed. I saw my mom start to open her mouth but I cut her off. "I know you did once, but once probably wasn't enough if you missed me as much as you say you did! Even my friends wrote to me! Sure, they did only once, but they're not family! I should have expected more from my parents! But I guess I was wrong!" I pushed away from them, threw my bags in the trunk, and jumped into the backseat. "Let's just go," I finished, through clenched teeth.

Without a word, my parents just got in the car and drove home. I felt a single tear form in my eye and slowly slide down my cheek. Why did everything have to be so dramatic?

We arrived at La Casa De Spinelli and I got my stuff and started to head up to my room to unpack. "Do you need any help?" My mom asked, quietly.

"No, I got it. Thanks." And I walked up to my room, still clearly peeved at my parental units. I walked into my room and threw my luggage on my bed and threw my smallest bag across the room as hard as I could with a loud screech. "Ahhhhhhh!"

I looked at the clock on my nightstand and saw that it was only about two in the afternoon. I ran downstairs threw open the front door and ran as fast as I could to TJ's house, who, conveniently, only lived a couple houses down the street.

I ran up to his front door and pounded on the door, not bothering to ring the doorbell. After about fifteen seconds of complete silence, I heard the lock unlock and the doorknob turn. Soon, I was met face to face with a placid-looking TJ. When he saw that it was me, however, his face lit up and he pulled me into a hug. Or at least he tried.

"No," I stated, pushing him away, "Don't hug me. I want some answers and I want them now." I started to pace back and forth. "I don't even know where to start! You all make me so… so…_mad!_" This time, I full-on shoved him. Now that I think about it, I probably wasn't that mad. I was just tired and frustrated.

That made him mad, too. "Look, Spinelli, I don't know what you're mad about! If you could just tell me-" _WHAT?_

I started ticking things off of my fingers. "Wow, ok, first of all, you don't write me for a _long _time, but I already know the reason behind that one, so I'm not gonna count that," I waved the air dismissively. "Second of all, you ended the letter with 'He's not talking to us right now, and none of us know why,' I mean, really? Then, _then_, I write back, like you asked, asking 'why?' and 'keep me updated,' but did you do that? No!" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "I waited. I waited and hoped that Kevin would call my name to receive a letter, but did that ever happen? Do you know how long this has been depressing me? Just once, I hoped someone would follow through on their promise. Writing to me once in a month does not count as 'writing to me.'" TJ looked like he was going to say something but I cut him off. Again. "You know, I expected this from Mikey, or Gus, seeing as how they always get distracted. But not you!" I said, jabbing a finger in his chest and making him stagger backwards a little. "I thought I was 'first string on your team' or ya know, something like that, but ya know, it's whatever." I crossed my arms. "Ok, I'm done."

TJ, surprisingly, was calm and collected, considering I just pushed him twice. "Spinelli, I did write you, several times, but you just never got them." _What does that even mean?_

"What does that even mean?" I asked, still annoyed but now a little confused.

"Actually, Gus and Mikey wrote you too, but we just didn't have any way to send them to you."

"Didn't you use Gretchen's laptop to send the first one?" He nodded. "Then why didn't you use it to send the other ones?"

TJ scratched his head. "Because, um, Gretchen is pretty mad at you, and she, uh, didn't want to have anything to do with you. So, uh, yeah." _Well, this is new._

"She's mad at me? For what?" I asked, incredulously. "She sounded fine three weeks ago! What could I have possibly done when I have been across the country?"

"Apparently she was talking with Upside Down Girl and she told Gretchen that you told her the password to Gretchen's YoungPlanners account and that you went onto it and changed a bunch of stuff and that's the reason why she can't find any of the blueprints to her experiments."

Gretchen had found a website that let her save her plans and blueprints and make changes to them and whatnot the previous summer, but if you know me, I couldn't care less about that kind of stuff. I was mad all over again and the first thing that came out of my mouth was, "Since when does she hang out with Upside Down Girl?"

TJ shrugged. "We asked her the same question and she said that they were really good friends now." _That doesn't even make any sense._

"You didn't even try to talk to her?"

He put his hands up in defense. "Hey, we tried, and she said that she would still hang out with us, but not when you are there, too."

"Ok, seriously? What I 'supposedly' did," I made air-quotations, "isn't even that bad! She is so over-dramatic!"

TJ widened his eyes. "Are you nonchalantly suggesting that you actually did it?"

I was taken aback. "What? No! Why would you even think that? I thought you knew me better." Just the thought of him thinking that I would do something like that made me upset. "I may be tough and seem mean, but I would never do something like that!"

He put his hand on my shoulder. "I know you wouldn't, Spin, but all I'm saying is that you should ask her what's up and try to talk to her. Over email of course. She'll never speak to you in person." _Wow, that makes me feel so much better._

I nodded. "Ok, got it, now what's the thing with Vince?"

TJ laughed. "Funny story really. Turned out, he just wasn't back from camp yet. Oh, and apparently his mom has always disliked us and took it as an opportunity to try to 'break the friendship between the delinquents and him' as Vince put it." _Well, that was unexpected._

I had a hard time grasping that fact. "So he wasn't mad at us?" He shook his head. "Ok, why does his mom hate us?"

"Apparently, we get him into trouble way too often."

I laughed. "That's so true."

TJ smiled. "So are you calmed down?"

"Yeah, I guess," I sighed. "Although, the whole Gretchen thing is making me a little angry but I'll sort it out sooner or later. Let's go get the guys and meet up at Kelso's. I have so much to tell you about camp!"

"Sure," He grinned and closed the door behind him. We starting walking to Vince, Mikey, and Gus' houses when out of nowhere, TJ put his arm around me. "It's great to have you back, Spin."

I smiled up at him. "Me too. It's great to be home."

**I didn't know how I should end it, but I didn't want this chapter to be as long as the last one so I just decided to end it here. You TJxSpinelli lovers get a little hint of 'TJxSpinelli-ness' so yay for that. I haven't decided if they should get together or not in this story, so…**

**Let me know your thoughts! It would mean a lot to me! THANKS!**

**-ecStarz**


	6. Chapter 5 First Day Craziness

**A/N: Hey! So, thank you to 'GhostWishper' for actually reviewing! :) Everyone else should do the same thing! Just kidding, I'm not going to ask for reviews anymore. I just hope you'll enjoy the story and if you have any questions, just send me a PM or, you know, review/comment!**

**Anyway, read on!**

**Chapter 5**

The gang and I (minus Gretchen) hung out every day for the rest of the summer and I must say it was a blast. We went to movies, went swimming, and just hung out in TJ's basement. Perfect summer fun.

I put the letters back in the box and shut the lid, but not before my mind wandered back to the stressful points of the three months. I opened the box again, but this time I pulled out the emails that I saved from me and Gretchen's heated conversation about the whole password fiasco. As I read over the first couple, I started shaking my head at the stupidity of our twelve-year-old selves.

A week had passed and I still hadn't confronted Gretchen about her so-called friendship with Upside Down Girl. Honestly, I was avoiding it. I had planned on to keep avoiding the situation until TJ kind of pushed it into my hands.

We were walking home from the movie theatre with Vince (Gus had the flu and Mikey didn't want to see the movie we wanted to see) when TJ brought up the horrid subject.

"So, have you talked to Gretchen about the, you know, thing?" _Way to be specific, Teej._

I groaned. "Uh, no. But I was going to… soon."

"It's been a week. You should probably do it now."

"I know, I know. I'll do it when I get home, I promise."

And I kept that promise.

When I got to my house, I said my bye's to Vince and TJ and walked hesitantly up to my room to my computer. I pulled up my email and composed a letter to '' and started typing.

"Hey, so apparently you were told that I hacked onto your 'YoungPlanners' account or whatever and changed a lot of stuff and I wanted to get this straight: I did no such thing. I just wanted to tell you that so you can forget about what Upside Down Girl said and we can go back to being friends. Sorry for the misunderstanding. See you soon. – Spinelli."

I hit send and waited for a reply.

I waited a whole 24 hours before I got a response from her. Sure, I didn't sit in front of the computer screen the whole time, but it was the longest day of my life.

When my email made the familiar 'ding' noise, I quickly opened my inbox and proceeded to read the letter. And my heart dropped.

"Wow, you have a lot of nerve emailing me after I told TJ to tell you that I didn't want to have anything to do with you. That means we are no longer friends and shouldn't talk again ever. But because I am nice," –in the current scheme of things, I thought it was debatable– "I will tell you where I received the information. Upside Down Girl, who is currently one of my really good friends, told me that you told her the password and while she was over at your house, you logged in and purposely deleted and changed things. So, as you can see, I do not trust you anymore and I'd rather we discontinue this discussion. Thanks, Gretchen." _What the-?_

I was speechless for a few moments but when my brain finally snapped, I clicked the reply button and started pounding out a reply with newfound hatred.

"Ok, first of all, how can you say that Upside Down Girl is your 'good friend'? You guys have barely spoken since fourth grade when TJ couldn't pick a best friend, so you can_not_ use that as an excuse. She's known to lie, so why are you picking now to believe her? Why would you believe her over me, who you've known for years? I did _not_ hack your account and you're just being ridiculous. And btw, we are continuing this discussion until you come to your senses. For a smart girl, you're being pretty dumb. –Spinelli."

I think I literally broke my mouse when I hit the send button, but c'mon, she made me so angry.

Replies came pretty fast after that and soon, the emails were flying back and forth with little or no break in between. You could practically feel the tension between the computers.

"How dare you call me 'dumb!' I'm the smartest one in the whole city, probably in the whole state, maybe in the country. And you have no right to insult UDG, she's never lied to me before, and I trust her. Plus, she wouldn't lie about this so you're the one that needs to get over yourself and just admit the fact that you hacked onto my account."

"Yeah? Well, she's lying about this! I can't believe you don't believe me! Maybe if this is the way you're gonna be from now on (ridiculous, idiotic, and stubborn), then maybe we should rethink our friendship. Maybe things will be different once we hit high school, but we'll just have to wait and see."

"That was my suggestion from the beginning so I'm glad that you are finally seeing the light of the subject. And as for the thought about high school? I doubt it, but who knows?"

"Well, this is it then. TTYN."

"What does 'TTYN' stand for?"

"Talk to you never."

"Yes, well, talk to you never, too."

And that was the last email I got from Gretchen, and I had to admit, I was near tears. I had never ended a friendship that was quite that strong in a way that was quite this bad. It felt like a chunk of my heart was ripped out, and I have to say, I was not fond of that feeling.

Instead of crying when I reread the dreaded emails, I actually laughed, which is not something someone would have thought I would have done. Thinking back to that point in our lives, I realized how incredibly stupid we _both_ sounded, even if Gretchen didn't admit it.

Smiling to myself, I closed the box and put it back on my shelf. While doing this, I came to the realization that the whole thing with Gretchen could have possibly started the breakup of the gang. It wasn't the complete cause, but it was one of the main factors.

As I thought about the rest of the summer, nothing out of the ordinary immediately came to mind. The rest of the summer was pretty normal. And fun.

So that brings us to the first day of middle school. The first day of seventh grade at 5th Street Middle School. That was fun stuff right there.

"Ok, this has literally been the weirdest day ever," I said as I dropped my lunch tray onto the table that my friends had picked out. Seventh grade had lunch after 3rd period, which was Reading for me, and even though it was only 10:55 in the morning, I was absolutely starving. I was looking around the table to see who we were sitting with and saw TJ, Vince, Mikey, Gus, Gretchen (What?), Upside Down Girl (Oh), Swinger Girl, and Butch.

"Why would you say that, Spin?" TJ asked, shoving a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth. "It's been a pretty good day for me," which sounded more like, 'Eht's bin a pre-y guh deh fa me.'

"Slow down, Teej, you're gonna choke!" I said, sitting down across from him and in between Vince and Mikey. I took the chance to look at what he was eating. "What are you eating anyway?"

TJ swallowed. "I don't know, I think it's some sort of ravioli or pasta or something." He looked down at his plate. "All I know is that the menu called for Lotsa Pasta , whatever that is."

"I'm guessing that means you're getting a lot of pasta," Gus piped up, taking a bit into his own lunch that consisted of a hamburger and fries.

"Whatever it is it, it's way better than that slop we got at Third Street," Vince said, taking a bite into something that was made of chicken.

"I agree with you on that one," I laughed, as I took a bite out of my cookie. Lunch was way better already on the first day. I turned to Mikey, "What are you eating, Mikey?" I had noticed that his lunch tray was considerably lacking a number of items and I was sure that he couldn't have possibly eaten that much already.

"I had a salad," He said simply, "along with chocolate milk and an apple." _Um, excuse me?_

I felt my mouth drop open. "Are you feeling okay, big guy?" As soon as I said those words, I regretted it. I didn't mean it like that, it's just what I always had called him. "I mean, Mikey?"

I heard the rest of the table gasp and I apparently had not gotten the memo, but it all became clear when Mikey started to glare at me. "Although I know you mean well, Spinelli, I would appreciate if you didn't call me that anymore because as of right now, I am trying to cut down on what I eat."

I was still frozen from shock. Never in my life have I ever seen Mikey eat less than that of two people and I couldn't wrap my finger around the idea. "What does that mean?"

Gretchen, who was not looking in our general direction, suddenly whipped her head around to squint her eyes at me. "It means he's going on a diet, Spinelli, does he have to spell it out for you? Or are you too egocentric to think about your supposed 'friends' for once in your life?"

I shook my head. "Um, excuse me? Who said you could talk to me?" I turned to TJ. "Who gave her permission to talk to me? Because I sure didn't." I faced Gretchen again. "For your information, I'm not 'egocentric' or whatever you call it because I love all of my friends very much, unlike you, who believed a lying air-head over a member of the gang. You know, the group you used to be friends with before you started hanging out with people like her." I pointed at Upside Down Girl, who just stared at me wide-eyed. "No offense."

Gretchen didn't say anything but she gave me one last glare before she turned back to her new best friend and started talking about the causes and effects of making a hydroelectric generator. Maybe it was anger or jealously talking, but I thought I could make out a hint of boredom in UDG's eyes and for some reason that made me smile to myself. "So what were we talking about before we got rudely interrupted?"

My four best friends just stared at me with confused looks but quickly composed themselves and started talking. "Why has today been weird for you?" _Oh, yeah._

"Oh, right. Well, do you want to hear about my day? Or at least the first part of it anyway?" They nodded. "Alright, so after we met up when we all arrived at school, we went to first hour, right? Wrong. The big guy who was supposed to be the principal stopped me in the hallway after I said 'see you later' to you guys and he took me to his office. I didn't think I was in trouble because it was the first day and ten minutes hadn't even passed yet. But anyway, he took me to his office and was like 'I've heard about you, Ashley Spinelli, and I have to say, I am not pleased with your behavioral attitude,' or something like that-"

"What did you say to that?" Gus asked, worried.

"I probably should've punched him in the face but I didn't 'cause it was the first day and yeah. Anyway, I was like 'How do you even know who I am?' and he's all like, 'It seems like only yesterday that I was teaching Joey and Vito and if you're anything like them, then the world should be alert,' and then I'm like, 'Dude, chill, don't get your panties in a twist' and then he just sent me to first hour with a glare and a warning. It probably wasn't the best way to start the day but you know, it's whatever."

"What happened after you left the office?" Vince asked as he walked back from dumping his tray.

"I went to first hour," I said, with a shrug, "but you won't guess who had the class with me!"

"Who?" TJ asked, skeptically.

"Two words," I said, staring them down, "The Ashley's. Every. Single. One of them."

"Oooh," TJ, Vince, Mikey, and Gus all cringed sympathetically. "Did they say anything to you?"

I nodded. "I walked in late because of the stupid principal and they're all, 'look what the cat dragged in! It's Spin-ugly!' and the first thought that came to my mind was why couldn't they come up with better insults? I mean, we are in middle school now, for the love of Mike. Anyway, all the desks were taken except for one in the back of the room near this girl who had black hair and looked like she was part Mexican; not that I have anything against Mexicans."

"Of course you don't, but who is this part-Mexican chick?" Vince asked, with genuine curiosity. I knew where this was headed.

I narrowed my eyes. "She is not a _chick_, she is a girl, and she's really nice. Her name is Andrea and she's sitting right over there." I pointed to a girl that was sitting at a table across the cafeteria. "And it turned out that she's not Mexican, but El Salvadorian."

"Oh, cool," Vince said, absentmindedly. His eyes lingered over at her table a little longer than I would have minded before he turned back to me. "Go on."

I rolled my eyes. "After first hour, I started walking to second hour, which I have with you," I gestured to TJ, "when this guy, I'm guessing he was an eighth grader because of his size, pushed me down."

"What did you do?"

"I started to cry," I said, sarcastically. "No, really, I popped up off the floor and jumped on his back and started punching him. He ran away crying but I ran to class before I could get in trouble for it." I smiled mischievously. "I got away with it with no harm done. Well, maybe to that guy's ego."

"Way to go Spin," TJ said, slapping me a high-five. "First day of school and you've already gotten a rep with the eighth graders."

"Thanks, so then second and third hour went by pretty normal but then when I got in the lunch line, this guy gave me this," and I took a piece of paper out of my pockets and slid it to the middle of the table. "It says 'Hey, txt me sometime' and then his number. What does that even mean?"

"I think someone has a crush on little miss tough girl over here," I heard Vince whisper to TJ, but since he had to lean across the table in order to do so, it wasn't as secret as he thought it might have been.

"I heard that," I said, shoving him off of his chair, "and you better take it back before Madame Fist comes out and starts beating you up!" I raised my fist to add effect, even though I didn't plan on hitting him.

"Chill, Spinelli, I'm just kidding. But seriously, I think that kid wants you to txt him."

"Txt him? I don't even have a phone yet! Why would a guy want me to txt him anyway?" I knew that girls dated guys, guys dated girls, yada yada yada. But what I didn't get was that a guy wanted to talk to me. I wasn't pretty, I was tough. I was mean, and the only guys I liked talking to were Vince, Mikey, Gus, and TJ. _My distant cousin that I was closest to_, I thought as my mind drifted back to camp over the summer and the statement that Kevin made that for some reason caused me to blush.

"I think, Spinelli, and I'm being completely serious here, that this guy likes you and maybe wants to get to know you better?" TJ hypothesized. _Ok, so?_

"Doesn't matter," I said, crinkling the piece of paper and stuffing it back into my pocket. "I'm not interested."

"You know, sooner or later, you're gonna have to start dating boys, and we're gonna have to start dating girls," Gus said, oblivious to the fact that what he just said set off a spark somewhere within me.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that so I won't have to pummel you into dust," I said, as the Lunch Lady came over to me and asked me if she could take my tray. _Fancy. _"I'll start worrying about that kind of stuff later but in the meantime, what do you guys think of this new 'no-recess' situation?"

TJ was the first to speak. "I think it whomps but I saw it coming. Ever since first grade, Becky has been forcing me to grasp the fact that recess is only for elementary schoolers and that we should start maturing and other stuff like that. I don't think there is anything we can do about it."

I was about to speak but was cut off by the bell, which almost scared me to death when I heard it for the first time that morning. It was loud and brain-rattling and I hated it, but now I'm used to it.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, and I guess I'll see you guys after school," I said, walking towards the stairs. "Remember, we are meeting on the hill in the back, ok?"

I got nods, so I headed to fourth hour. Math. _Great._ I was going to love middle school.

The vibrate of my phone pulled me away from the flashback. I looked over my shoulder to my cell phone that was positioned on my nightstand and stared at it for a few seconds before I picked it up to answer the txt that I received.

Andrea. I smiled, pondering the fact that I was just thinking about her, and I picked up my phone and pressed the 'open' button.

**FROM: ANDREA **Hey!(: Are u doing anything tonight?

_No, I'm a loser and my Friday nights are spent watching wrestling._ Nah, not really, but I didn't think I had anything going on.

**TO: ANDREA ** Heyya… no I don't think so, why?

Not even thirty seconds had passed before I got a vibrated reply.

**FROM: ANDREA **Great! U know what that means! See ya at 7…

I tossed my phone on my bed and looked at my clock. _Four-fifteen._ So, I had about two and a half hours before I was supposed to be at Andrea's house for a Disney movie marathon. No matter how much I protested against it, she can be really persuasive, and I have found that my 'I'll do whatever I want, when I want' attitude had kind of 'let up' over the years because we've been having an on-going marathon for a couple months now. I had no idea there were that many Disney classics and according to Andrea, I was 'really deprived as a kid,' and that is probably true. I was hoping we were almost done but almost every weekend, she had a new movie ready to shove in my face.

I flopped onto my bed, face-down, careful not to land on my phone and closed my eyes. I wanted to go back to thinking deeply. Where was I? Oh, yeah.

Walking to fourth period math class… where things started to get really strange.

Seventh graders. Eighth graders. _People. _They were everywhere! Everywhere I walked, where I talked to my friends, just _everywhere!_ I was about to go insane. Nobody had bothered to mention that we were going to be packed like sardines in a tiny school building. That might've been nice to know.

I pushed my way through the crowds of ignorant people and made my way to my locker, which, unfortunately, was on the other side of the school away from all of my classes. Needless to say, it took me a long time to walk to and from my locker back to my classes after every period. And so you don't have to ask, we weren't allowed to carry our backpacks around and I could only carry so many books at a time.

I finally made it to my locker and turned the knob to gain access. I paused for a minute to try to remember my combination.

45-4-14… It didn't budge.

I tried again. 45-14-24… Nope.

Since there was no one around because I was already really late, I let out a shriek and slammed my fist into the locker door, making a huge thumping noise and a little dent. I was now getting mad. I knew every number had a four in it. That much I could remember, but there were possibly millions of combos that contained a four and I didn't have enough time to check, much less figure out, all of them.

I tried one last time. 45-43-14… I took a deep breath before I lifted the latch. I yanked it up and to my surprise the door opened to reveal my somewhat messy locker. It hadn't even been four periods yet and my locker looked like a hurricane ran through it.

I quickly found my math textbook and notebook and slammed the locker door. I turned around to face a tall figure. Because I wasn't expecting anyone to be in the hallway, I was a little frightened. When I realized it was a teacher, I relaxed.

"Hello, Miss, does there seem to be a problem?" The lady asked, looking me up and down.

I shook my head rapidly. "Nope, now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go," and I turned around to run to my class. In all the commotion, I forgot to even check where the classroom is so I probably wouldn't even get to the classroom before class was over.

The teacher grabbed my arm so I couldn't go anywhere. _What the heck?_ "I just heard you scream. What's the problem?"

"Nothing!" I almost yelled. It's not her business, even if she is a teacher. "I just couldn't remember my locker combo, but I did and now I _really_ have to get to class." I thumbed the direction where I thought the math wing was.

She nodded hesitantly like she didn't believe me but was going to pretend to in order to save time. "Alright, but if you need anything, Spinelli, just ask," and she turned to walk away down the hall.

_Wait- she knew my name?_ I called after her, "Wait, how do you know my name?"

The odd teacher turned around and smiled at me. "My husband has talked a lot about you." _Huh?_

"Uh, what?" I asked, dumbfounded, for once not thinking about math class. _Who is this lady's husband and why is her husband talking about me?_

"Yes, you should know him. You used to see him every day during the week." _Is she saying what I think she's saying?_

"I see, and your name is…?" I asked, hanging on to the last word and dreading the answer.

"Mrs. LeAnn Prickly."

_Oh, for Pete's sake._

"Well, that's… uh, nice. And, well, I uh- have to go," I jerked my thumb towards the hallway, "So, thank you-" I nodded "-for everything, and I'll see you later!" I turned and ran as fast as I could down the hall.

"See you later, Spinelli, and remember I'm here if you need me!" Mrs. Prickly called after me.

"'Kay, will do!" I yelled back, not even bothering to turn around. It was just another thing that had to be added to my list of crazy things I had encountered so far; right behind crazy guy in the lunch line with the cell phone number.

Speaking of which, when I finally made it into my math class (where everyone just stared at me with blank expressions, I mean- hello? Can't you see that I'm already embarrassed enough with being late?), the first person I saw was _the_ guy. I casually shielded my eyes and walked to the only open desk in the room; a desk that was in the corner next to an out-of-place bookshelf.

Fortunately for me, the teacher didn't even say anything when I walked in late. She just stared at me for about ten seconds (maybe) and went back to writing equations on the board with a bright orange Expo marker.

I sighed and looked down at my notebook, in the process of attempting to copy down what the teach was writing, but not before I made awkward eye contact with cell-phone-number guy. We just stared at each other for what seemed like ages before he smiled and quickly looked back down. I shook my head and looked back down at my notebook but instead of half-written equations, the page was covered by a note that someone had written.

I looked around but nobody seemed to be looking at me so I just opened the folded piece of paper and read it.

'Stay away from Dan, he's mine. So you better watch out! -Your worst nightmare'

It was written in choppy cursive, if there was such a thing, and there were tiny hearts over the 'i's so obviously it was written by a girl.

I looked around again, but this time, unfortunately, I caught the eyesight of a white-blond freak that wore a lot of makeup. _Oh, goodness._ This girl could _not_ be my 'worst nightmare.' She narrowed her eyes at me and gave me the dirtiest glare I'd ever seen. (From a _girl_ that is) I returned the glare hopefully looking meaner, and we just stayed like that for a while. I got tired quickly and resorted to just rolling my eyes and looking back down. I didn't need to get involved with girls like her. I was happy sticking with my 'own kind.'

But I knew from the look that she gave me that she wasn't going to give up without a fight, but let me tell you one thing- girls like Miss Prissy-Pants can't fight with someone like me, so I'm going to guess that I am going to get caught up in some drama, whether I like it or not.

And I can tell some serious stuff is about to go down.

Bring it on.

**Oooooh, I feel a fight coming on! :) Anyway, there's chapter five. I wrote most of it driving home from Chicago with my friend impatiently reading over my shoulder so I'm sorry if it seems rushed.**

**Remember, review if you want, tell me what you think, etc. Or if you don't want to, that's cool, too. Just do what you want, I don't really care.**

**A huge thanks to everyone who is taking the time to read, so THANKS! And see you in a couple weeks. (Hopefully).**

**-ecStarz**

**P.S- I'm starting a Maximum Ride Fanfic for all you bird-lovers out there, so watch for that! See ya…**


	7. Chapter 6 Well That Was Awkward

**A/N: Hey! I'm sorry that it's been over a year since I last updated, but in hope that I can kind of make it up to you guys, this chapter is the longest chapter I've ever written. It's mostly present-day Spinelli with only a couple flashbacks this time.**

**I wasn't even planning on updating this story, but for some odd reason, I had a spark of imagination, and I just ran with it. So we'll see how this ends up.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading my story, and don't forget to review… read on!**

**Chapter 6**

I went on a run, which was unusual because I can definitely categorize myself under 'definitely not a runner, hook me up with some fried chicken instead'. I could run-slash-sprint short distances, but running for miles and miles was definitely not my thing. But nevertheless, I went on a run.

I'll admit, I didn't know where I was going when I started, but somehow, by getting lost in the music of my iPod, and by following the path that started at the edge of the entrance to my neighborhood, I ended up on the blacktop of Third Street Elementary School. _Why?_

It was a Friday night, and I assumed that all the teachers had left for the weekend, because everything seemed lifeless. I walked slowly across the blacktop, headed for the swings, trying to catch my breath. I was breathing so hard. _God, I am so out of shape. I am not a runner, why am I doing this to myself?_ I picked a swing and sat on it, staring at the school and everything that had once meant the world to me, which wasn't much considering they had renovated it when my class was in eighth grade.

To start, Old Rusty was no more. Apparently it had been vandalized with 'crude language' or whatever, to the point where the administration couldn't fix it. I don't know if that's true or not, but that was what I was told. I was too busy dealing with my own problems at the time, and I couldn't have cared less about the old playground that I once loved. But now, looking at the brand new, completely different one that they had replaced Old Rusty with, it made me sick to my stomach. There was nothing for me to miss anymore. I had no connection with this 'New Rusty' or whatever they call it now; therefore, I have no memories- nothing to miss. It seemed like I had never went to Third Street, ever.

I turned around and faced away from the school and started swinging- I had nothing else better to do anyway. In the distance, I saw 5th Street Middle School and laughed about how _awkward_ middle school was. I look back on those two years and mostly think, _wow, I am so embarrassing. _And I was a total jerk during that time to, especially to that one guy, Dan. I threw my head back on the forward swing and laughed about how stupid I was and about how all the drama a single boy caused me. Seventh grade ended up being a terrible year, just because of him alone. Don't get me wrong, I actually started to like him, but that just ended up making things worse. See, when I start to like someone, I freak out and don't know how to handle the situation, and I bet we can all see how a situation like that ends up…

"Oooh, cheese bread and marinara sauce, my favorite!" I said, moving slowly through the lunch line with Andrea. I have said it many times and I will say it again. Fifth Street's food is and always will be way better than Third Street's, it's as simple as that.

"Ehh, it's okay," Andrea replied, grabbing a tray for me and herself. "I always like the pizza days." I shrugged with a smile because it was true. Randomly, the lunch ladies would bring in boxes and boxes of pizza, not home-made but like, corporation-made and it was delicious. But I still loved cheese bread and its faithful marinara sauce.

We got on the subject of upcoming tests and how both of us are going to fail every one of them, when I heard my name softly coming from behind me. "Spinelli?"

I turned around to come face to face with Dan and an empty plate. _Oh geez._ "What?" I asked, a little harsher than I intended to be. Actually, I wasn't even mad at him, it was just awkward. _What is he doing here? His plate is empty, does he want my food? No way, he can get his own. Why is he standing there? Gosh, this is awkward. _A thousand thoughts like these were running around in my head when his shy voice interrupted me.

"Do you know if the pizza comes with fries?" He pointed to the crappy home-made pizza sitting under the heating lamp.

Eager to get out of this situation, I just nodded and said, "Yeah" (even though I really had no idea if you had to pay extra for the fries or not), and quickly turned back around to finish talking to Andrea. _Whew, that was close. _I don't know where he went after that, but after I got my tray of food and said goodbye to Andrea, I made my way to my own lunch table and plopped down right on the end.

I wanted to get the encounter with Dan out of my head, because I knew I acted like a jerk to him, but for some reason I couldn't control myself, and now I felt really bad. And now it looked like TJ had witnessed the whole thing. _Fantastic._

"So how's the thing going between you and Dan?" TJ asked, as he shoved a forkful of rice in his mouth.

"What?" I gasped. "Nothing is going on between me and Dan," but I could feel my face start to get hot, and I didn't know why. I wasn't lying! I violently ripped a piece of bread and half and shoved it in my mouth. "Trust me."

Vince smirked. _Oh, geez, did he see what happened too?_ But it was TJ who responded. "Don't act dumb, Spinelli. We saw you in the lunch line talking to him. Obviously something is going on." I don't know if it was my imagination or what, but his voice seemed a little tense. Or maybe it was just my hopeful longing of him to be jealous that his voice seem- _Oh my gosh, what am I saying? I did not mean to say that. You know what? Just forget it._ _Oh my gosh…_

I didn't know I was actually shaking my head in reality, until Gus piped up and said, "C'mon Spinelli, spill!" I glared at him across the table, and he sunk in his chair and stared at his plate that consisted of something with fries. I don't know.

"There's nothing to spill," I said angrily as I shoved the other half the bread into my mouth. "Just drop it."

TJ shook his head. "Not until you tell us what you two were talking about," and I rolled my eyes.

"He asked me if fries came with the pizza." I quickly glanced at the table across the cafeteria that Dan was sitting at, and noticed that he was staring at me. In the same half-second I turned back to face the gang. "It's no big deal."

"Well, what did you say?" Mikey joined in. He looked intrigued, that lummox.

Was this a trick question? "Um, I said yes..." I looked around at all the faces that were so interested in my awkward story.

"Did you hear that?" Mikey exclaimed. "She said yes!" TJ, Vince, and Gus started clapping and cheering. _What is going on?_

"What, why? Why is that such a big deal?" But before anyone could answer my question, Gus exclaimed, "I hear wedding bells!" _WHAT?!_

I stood up abruptly and threw down the piece of bread that was in my hand onto the plate. "WHAT?" I screeched, clearly upset. "It's not like I accepted a marriage proposal! I _lied_ to him! I don't even know if the fries came with the pizza!" I could feel my face getting redder and hotter, and I was getting worked up.

"Don't you worry, my dearest Spinelli," Mikey said, creepily calm. "It's only a matter of time before-" I did not like where this was going.

"NO! STOP! AHHHHH!" I picked up my tray and pushed my chair in. "I hate all of you!" I didn't mean it, but I was so mad at the time.

"Spin, wait, where are you going?" TJ asked, grabbing my arm. It made me pause, but only for a second.

"No, don't touch me," I spat, yanking my arm from his grasp. "I am going far away from you guys, because… because… UGH!" I couldn't even get the words out. I marched up the stairs and left the cafeteria, not knowing where to go. Obviously I wasn't going to eat the bathroom. Only people with no friends ate in the bathroom, and well, I had friends. I just didn't want to sit with them at the moment.

Still hungry and only having five minutes left of lunch, I just plopped down right in the middle of the hallway and continued eating my cheese bread. The door that separated me from the cafeteria slowly opened and a sandy-blonde-haired boy peeked his head around. I closed my eyes. _What now…_

"Hey Spinelli, are you okay? I saw you run off and you looked upset, but I don't know…" Dan trailed off as he closed the door behind him, and stood by my tray and towered over me.

Will I ever be able to finish my lunch? I looked down at my tray, and nodded ever so slowly. "Yeah, I'm fine. My friends were just annoying me." I was wishing so hard that he would just go away because I didn't want to say something that I would regret. An eternity passed, and I thought I was in the clear when he spoke up again. "Then maybe you need new friends."

_Who is this guy?_ I forced a laugh out, because surely he was joking. "It's not like I don't like my friends," I started. Dan tilted his head and I took a deep breath. "Everybody's friends annoy them every once in a while. It doesn't mean you drop them and search for new ones. Do that and you'll never know who your real friends are. See what I'm sayin'?"

Dan sat down across from me. _Oh, goodness._ "I see what you're saying, but this isn't the first time you've gotten mad at them and left them, am I right?"

I shoved the last of my cheese bread into my mouth and stood up, wiping my hands on my dress. "Look, you're probably a great guy, and that is great," I swallowed. "But you don't know me or my friends, so you have no reason to talk." I grabbed my tray and walked to the door.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt," Dan said, and I was starting to lose it.

I stared at him straight in the eye. "You don't know me at all. If you did know me, you'd know that I can take care of myself, and if you don't watch your step, I'm going to make you regret you ever gave me your number in the first place. Got it?" Ay, look at that. Spinelli's ruining another possible friendship. Old habits die hard, right?

Not waiting for a response, I turned and walked out the door back down to the lunch tables to dump my tray…

I jumped off the swing and headed towards the kickball field, kicking rocks as I passed over them. Seventh grade was also the year that I went the longest without getting a detention. That is, until Anna wanted me to fight her. That bleached-blonde _princess_ who had a thing for Dan, found out, I guess, that he liked me and wanted to fight me. I assumed that she hadn't gotten the memo that I beat up kids for a living in elementary school, but she got the idea once I broke her perfect little nose and gave her a black eye. It awarded me my first detention of the year, but it was worth it in my eyes, because she never crossed my path again. I saw her a couple of times at the beginning of this school year in the hallways, but I heard she moved to 18th Street High School in November and was pregnant by January. It must've been an interesting winter break.

A ball was hiding behind the back board, so I went and rolled it out onto the dirt with my foot. I dribbled it like a soccer ball to the home plate and sat down on the base with the ball in my hands. And I just stared at it for the longest time.

Why did people have to grow up? Why couldn't we all stay little kids? I would much rather be running around during recess than getting ready for finals in two weeks.

My eyes were focused intently on the field in front of me, although, I don't know what I was hoping to see. My mind was going crazy and I kept seeing the old gang and I and Lawson and every other opponent we used to play, out on the diamond playing without a care in the world. We didn't know what the future consisted of. We only cared about the present. From this spot, I could see everything- the place where Old Rusty should've have been, but isn't any longer, the new playground, the swings, the basketball hoops, where the wall for wall-ball should've been (yeah, they got rid of that too), I could see it all.

My eyes landed on something that I never thought I would see again, and put the ball down beside the home plate. I walked over to the pile of tires and just smiled. That's all I did for a solid minute- smile. I circled the clubhouse, trying to remember how to get in, and I was about to give up when I finally found the entrance. I couldn't believe I was doing this. I got on my hands and knees and crawled through the tire hole, only a bit surprised that I could still fit. I hadn't grown much since sixth grade- I was still pretty tiny.

I dropped into what used to be the Ashley Clubhouse, and just sat there, taking it all in. It wasn't how I remembered it, but then again, this probably hasn't been used since it belonged to the Ashleys back in sixth grade. Everything that was once pink and decorated was gone except for a few lingering ribbons here and there. I looked up at the ceiling's tire and remembered how back in fourth grade I tried to scare the Ashleys with a rubber spider. I was such a _kid._

Now, the only thing left from when I still went to school at Third Street in this clubhouse was the Ashley Rule Book that was hidden in the corner under some dirt and leaves. _What is that doing here?_ Out of all the things that have been removed, why was that left behind? I picked up the book out of the puddle of water it was sitting in and tried to clear it of dirt, but it was obvious this thing hadn't been touched in years because the dirt was practically glued to it. I opened the book but all the pages were yellowed and falling out, probably due to the water. Laughing, I closed it and put it back where I found it. I had spent the last half of my elementary school life trying to figure out the Ashleys' secrets, but how important could they be if they left their book in the clubhouse? More importantly, why hadn't anyone found it after all these years? Aren't kids adventurous anymore?

After taking one last look around the former clubhouse, I climbed out and stood up on the grass and started to walk back to the swings. _Man, things sure have changed._

"Sp- Spinelli?" A voice startled me so much, that I whipped my head around so hard to where I thought the voice was coming from, that my neck cracked. _Ow._ I didn't think anyone would be here I mean it's after hours, it's late. Who could it be- oh. _Oh._ I saw who the voice belonged to and I was too shocked for words. Well not necessarily scared-shocked, but more like 'what should I say because It's been a long time' kind of shocked. "What are you doing here?"

I looked at the boy who I thought I knew so well, but turned out to be so wrong about. I opened my mouth to reply, but I couldn't figure out the words to say without me sounding like a freak. And I couldn't tell him I went on a run, because he knew me too well to know that I went on a freaking _run._ I am no runner after all. He wouldn't believe me, or think I was psycho, or both. Instead I sat down on the swing and stared at my shoes. Minutes passed and he just stood there, so I sighed. "I went on a run and I ended up here. I dunno." I couldn't look at him in the eye.

He laughed with disbelief. "You went running?" He laughed again. I guess he thought my willing to get exercise was so hilarious. "I can't believe it! Since when have you started running?" He couldn't stop smiling as he sat down on the swing next to me. _God, this was awkward._

"I'm not the same little kid anymore, TJ! I've grown up; I do different things now. You of all people can relate to that!" I regretted the words as soon as I said them, but they needed to be said. At least this way, the shot was indirect, and I wasn't sure he'd be able to pick up on what I referring to.

That shut him up for a solid two minutes, but he continued to stare at me and I felt his eyes burning a hole into the side of my head. (I turned back to my shoes after I faulted him) TJ sighed and started pumping his legs to get him airborne. "So what are you doing here, Spinelli?"

I looked around. "I'm just looking at how everything has changed. I thought seeing this place would make me feel better, but it only makes me feel worse." This was the most I've talked to him in years, and it felt… good? I don't know, but it wasn't terrible. It was almost like a piece of me was starting to reform again. But this time, I had to be careful. I turned to look at him, "What are _you_ doing here?"

TJ shrugged and started to slow his swinging down until he came to a stop. "Same thing as you, I guess." He squinted his eyes. "It's weird! Everything looks the same… but different. Where's Old Rusty?"

"They got rid of it, remember? Too much vandalizing…" _How could he have _not_ heard about it?_

"When?" _Seriously, dude?_

I dropped my head back and looked at the darkening sky. _What time is it? How long have I been here?_ "I believe it was a couple weeks before eighth grade started."

"Oh…" I could hear the realization in his voice. I looked at him. "You don't remember, do you?" I asked.

"That was the year, wasn't it… the summer…" He was searching my face for answers, but I didn't want to give anything away. "…that's why I don't remember."

I closed my eyes and just said, "Yeah." I was getting tired, and it was getting late. _I should probably start heading home soon._ I probably wasn't going to run the whole way back. My level of exhaustion was ridiculously high. After a couple of minutes of sitting in silence, I stood up. "Listen, Teej, it was great talking to you again, but I've got to start heading home."

The smile came back. "You're gonna run home?" I nodded. "Are you sure you don't just want me to drive you home?" He jutted his thumb toward his car that was parked across the street. I gave a tiny shake of the head. "Oh c'mon Spin."

My heart jumped. TJ hadn't called me that since seventh grade- another result of having a weird first year of middle school. I really didn't want to ride with TJ in his car, but on the other hand, I didn't really feel like running home either. He was right- I was not cut out for running. I finally made a decision after having an internal battle in my head. "Fine," I stated, rolling my eyes, "you can take me home."

TJ gave a little half smile and pulled his car keys out of the pocket of his over-sized basketball shorts. He doesn't play, but he wears them all the time, along with a navy blue high school soccer sweatshirt from last season. I never bothered to watch him play soccer, but I heard he was pretty good. We walked to his car, and he went to open the passenger side door for me, but I didn't let him get too far.

"I got it." I knew he was trying to be a gentleman, but I just wasn't ready for that yet.

He looked kind of taken aback, but he just shrugged it off. He got in, I got in, and we started home. _Could this get any more awkward?_ I was perfectly happy with not talking the whole way home, but TJ being TJ, he was sure to start up a conversation… and I was right.

"So…" He started. _So…_ "…what have you been up to?" _Why do you care?_

I kept staring out the window, trying to focus on the trees flying past and not the fact that my mind was going to explode. I was dying to ask him one question, but I didn't know how he would react. "Nothing much," I said simply, watching an old lady walk her cat. "You?" Actually I have 'been up to' a lot recently, but nothing I'd like to share with him.

From my peripheral vision, I saw movement, so I assumed he was shaking his head. "Nothin' much," he said softly. The silence was deafening and hung in the air. I felt so uncomfortable.

And pissed off. Why couldn't I talk to him normally? What had broken us so terribly that we couldn't even talk to each other about what had been going on in our lives? More than that, why were we _not_ a part of each other's lives?

I couldn't take it anymore, so I took a deep breath and turned to face him. "Do you remember that promise you made us say that one day in sixth grade?" I blurted. My question caught him so off guard that he swerved the car a little, but he got it straight again.

He nodded, but he didn't say anything. I had no idea what he was thinking about, so I just turned back towards the window. _At least he remembers._

What seemed like ages later, TJ pulled onto my driveway and turned the car off. He still hadn't said anything, so I got out of the car and was about to slam the door shut, when he stopped me. "Spinelli, wait. I-"

I shook my head and forced a smile. "No, it's okay, TJ. I get it." _I get that he was right all those years ago. What made me think that we could stay friends? My brothers? Right, because that ended so well. _I went to shut the door, but he spoke again.

"No, Spin, you don't underst-"

I gave a little smile. "Bye, TJ. Thanks for ride." And I slammed the door, not hard, but with enough force to end the conversation. I walked into the house quickly because I didn't want him to see me cry. That would probably cause even more problems.

My parents weren't home; they went… somewhere. So as soon as I saw TJ leave my driveway, I let out a scream. I hadn't punched anything in a while. In fact, my violent tendencies had kinda let up over the years, but I felt like punching something. I searched for something I could let my anger out on, but the only thing I could hit and not get in trouble for by my parents was the couch. _Oh, what the hey… _I walked over the couch and just swung at it. My fist came in contact with the cushion and I felt my pain slowly leave by way of my fingers. It felt so good. I swung again… and again… and again. With each hit, a tear would drop down my face, but I quickly wiped it. _Ugh, what was happening to me?_

I sat down on the floor when punching the couch didn't feel like a solution anymore. Sure, I felt better, but you can only punch something for so long before you start to question your motives. I felt terrible.

_**DING. **_I fished my phone out of my pocket to see that I got a text from Mandy, asking if I wanted to go see The Quiet Ones. _Thank God._ Anything to get my mind off of TJ. I quickly typed a response and went up to my room to change into something that wasn't sweaty and smelling of BO.

I grabbed some sweatpants off the back of the chair at my desk and picked up the t-shirt that I was wearing before I went on my run. Don't worry, it was clean. I ditched my old style of the red dress, red and yellow striped leggings, boots, and my orange hat back in eighth grade. I even gave my brother's boots back to him, even though I knew they wouldn't fit him anymore. I just didn't want them. I didn't have my beloved orange hat either, and I didn't know where it was. I lost it a long time ago, and I never bothered to look for it.

My phone received another text from Mandy saying she was in the driveway, so I quickly ran a brush through my mid-back length, raven-black hair (I wear my hair down a lot now), put my tennis shoes back on and ran out to her car.

"Hey girl…" Mandy started, with too much enthusiasm I'd say.

"…hey," I finished, closing the door behind me. We always would do that when we saw each other. It was so embarrassing.

"Are you ready to see this? I heard it's so good!" She squealed as we drove down the street to the movie theatre.

But I wasn't really paying attention. "Yeah," I said absentmindedly, as we passed by TJ's house. _No,_ I thought, and I looked away from the window.

I'm pretty sure Mandy kept talking for the whole drive, but about what? I don't know.

Soon, we were in our seats at the theatre- popcorn in our laps and our Icee's in our cup holders, but as the movie started, my mind could not focus on the screen. My mind was jumping from topic to topic until it landed on TJ, a thought that I came to this movie to get away from.

It was near the end of seventh grade when he started to change. Or, I started to change. I don't really know, but either way, I'm pretty sure it was the first major unfixable dent in our friendship. It went a little something like this…

My eyes were glued to the clock that was hanging on the wall in the third-hour Reading classroom. Three minutes. There were three minutes left until the class was over and I could go to lunch. I could hear my stomach growling, and I'm pretty sure the girl sitting next to me could hear it too, because she kept giving me weird looks. I responded with a fist held up, even though I wasn't going to hit her. Two minutes and thirty seconds.

I groaned. This, by far, was my longest period of the day because I hated Reading, absolutely hated it. The teacher was mean, and she was young, which meant she wasn't going to retire anytime soon. I also didn't like reading in general. You know, books? Sure, I liked reading on my own time, mainly comics, but I hated reading for those stupid, good-for-nothin' AR points. For every book we read we had to take a quiz over it and get points. We all needed a certain number of points by the end of the school year. The idea was terrible. One minute left.

Closing my eyes, I focused on myself running to the beginning of the lunch line, first to get my food for the day.

_Br-Ringgggggggg. FINALLY! _ I jumped up, grabbed my folders and notebooks and rushed out the door. I needed to get to my locker to put my stuff in there before I went to lunch so I didn't have to lug it around. I reached my locker, and opened it up on the first try. I had no problem with my combo now. I was about to shut the door, when someone slammed it for me… I guess.

"Hey!" I blurted. The slammed door almost took one of my fingers. I turned to see who shut my locker and was about to chew him out, when I realized that person was Vince. Instead, I punched him in the shoulder. "What was that for?"

Vince shook his head and laughed. "C'mon, Spinelli, let's go to lunch," he said, not answering my question. I just squinted my eyes at him and followed him down the stairs to the lunch room.

So much for my plan to be first in line. The cafeteria was practically already full, and that meant I'd have to wait probably ten minutes to get my food. I looked at Vince and he shrugged. Vince was smart. Vince brought his lunch from home. I playfully shoved him toward the gang's table and went to go stand in line for the burgers. And I was right. About ten minutes later, I was out of the crowd with my burger and fries and headed over to the table where everyone was already eating. I was about to sit down when… there was no place for me to sit down. _Huh?_ I looked around the table, and every chair was taken. _That's weird._ Our table is normally full, but only with me sitting at it. I tried to find who the odd person, who wasn't supposed to be there, was, and I found him… sitting next to TJ. They were laughing and talking about something, but the cafeteria was too loud for me to hear.

I caught Vince's eye and made a gesture with my shoulder (because I was holding my lunch tray) as if to say 'who is this guy? And where am I supposed to sit?' Vince nudged TJ with his shoulder and once he got his attention, nodded at me… who was awkwardly standing there with no place to go. _Like, hello?_

TJ looked around as if a chair would just magically appear that I could sit in, but after a couple head spins, he turned back to me. I rolled my eyes. It's a full cafeteria, of course there wasn't going to be an empty chair sitting randomly at a table next to us. He was just wasting time. "Sorry, Spinelli, but I have to talk to Derek about some stuff. It's just for today." He gave me a sympathetic smile and turned back to 'Derek' or whatever his name was.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." I turned around. _So what now?_ What was I supposed to do? I was standing in the middle of the lunch room, by myself, with a full tray and nowhere to sit. For some unknown reason, I turned to face Andrea's table. I didn't expect to find an empty seat there, but she was my only other friend that I was even the slightest bit comfortable sitting with. I quickly scanned my eyes across the chairs… and yes! There was an empty seat next to Andrea. I casually made my way over to her table and when I got close enough, I said, "Hey, Andrea, can I sit here?" _Please say yes, please say yes…_

Andrea looked up from her chicken with a smile on her face. "Sure, Spinelli! Have a seat." She patted the spot at the table next to her, and I sat down graciously.

"Thank you so much." I quickly started eating because I couldn't waste any more time.

"No problem," she replied, in between bites. "You can sit with us whenever you want."

"That's okay. It's only for today." I looked down at my half-eaten burger, just wanting this day to be over.

So the day went on, and I even made a couple more friends at that lunch table, but it didn't matter to me. I had my own friends at my own lunch table. I didn't need anyone else.

Alright, so the next day. Lunchtime again. I wasn't as late as I was yesterday, so I was near the front of the line. But most of the gang brings their lunch from home, so I had no one to stand in the line with. I finally made it to the end with my tray of food and headed towards my table.

And I could not believe my eyes. I walked up to TJ. "Um, excuse me? I thought you said 'just for today'? Well, that day was yesterday, so what's your excuse for today, Teej?"

TJ just shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, Spinelli. Just one more day, I promise."

"Yeah, well… that's what you said yesterday." I looked at the other members of the gang sitting at the table, but they all wouldn't look at me. Apparently their food really interested them. As I turned to walk away, I heard Derek laugh behind me and TJ join in a couple seconds later. _Jerks._

I wandered over to Andrea's table and hesitated by the chair for a couple seconds before I sat down. "Um, hey."

Andrea looked surprised to see me, and I knew why. "I thought you said you were going back to your table today?" She took a bite of her salad and looked at me with big eyes.

I sighed. "Yeah, so did I."

The rest of the week was pretty similar. It got to the point that if I saw Derek sitting in my spot, I would just spare them their excuses and go straight to Andrea's table. I always felt bad, but with each day it got easier. Now, I had a decision to make.

Our school has 'assigned' lunch tables which mean that after the first week of every quarter, we have to stay at the table we picked and write our names down. This week was the 'free' week, so I got to sit wherever I wanted, but starting Monday, I had to pick a table and stay at it. _So, the gang's table… or Andrea's table?_

I thought about it the whole weekend, but I was torn. Although, I knew deep down that if TJ, Vince, Gus, and Mikey still wanted me at their table, they would've let me sit there. Monday morning classes went by in a blur. _Which table?_

The bell rang for lunch and I walked slowly out of the classroom, still trying to wrap my head around the decision. _I just have to do it. I just have to walk in there and DO it._ I skipped down the stairs and spotted the table I was going to sit at. I took a deep breath and walked straight up to my chair and sat down. "Hey guys."

Andrea squealed. "You're gonna sit with us? Yay, this is going to be so much fun!" She threw her arms around me and hugged me. _Ew, get off of me, get off me. I am not a hugger.. ahhh!_ I mentally screamed. She released me with a huge smile on her face and handed me the piece of paper and pen that I had to sign with. I carefully wrote out 'Spinelli', _well, this is it._

I nonchalantly glanced over at TJ's table in search for Derek, but he was nowhere to be found. Instead, I got an angry-slash-confused look from TJ himself. I just shrugged at him and got up to go get my food. Even though it was only 10:55 in the morning, I was starving.

I was almost through the line and so close to getting my food, when TJ grabbed my arm. "Hey, Spin, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Glaring in his general direction while trying to load my tray with the fatty stuff, I said, "I thought you brought your lunch."

"I did, but I really need to talk to you."

"TJ, I don't wanna hear it. Sit with Derek, I don't care. I've got a new table now." I thanked the lunch lady for my food and went to pay for it.

But TJ wouldn't let me pass. "It was just for that week, Spinelli! You can come sit with us again!" _Well…_

I just stared at him for a couple seconds, but then I rolled my eyes. "That's great and all, Teej, but I don't want to be friends with people who ditch me for other guys." As soon as I walked away, I heard and realized what I had just said. _Oh, no._

Remembering what Dan had told me months before, I shook my head. _No. What? Could Dan be partially right, if not all right? No, it was just a little fight. I'll get over it. TJ will get over it. We're still friends… right? NO, I don't need new friends. _But as I looked at my new spot at Andrea's table, I wondered if I had already done what I told Dan I didn't need to do. _New friends…_

The screams of people in the theatre pulled me back to reality, and I wondered how much of the movie had passed. I looked over at Mandy, and she was covering her face with her hands, but I didn't find scary movies all that terrifying.

About ten minutes later, the movie ended, and as we were throwing away our empty popcorn bags and cups, Mandy kept saying how scary it was. I couldn't really give my input on the matter because I was thinking about other things about ninety-five percent of the time. I just kept nodding and saying "yeah".

The car was quiet all the way home. I think Mandy knew something was wrong, but she didn't ask or say anything about it. This time, I was careful not to look at TJ's house as we passed it, and when we reached my driveway, I thanked her, told her I had fun, got out and shut the door. I watched her drive away and crept quietly in the house. It was midnight and surely my parents were asleep. The whole house was dark.

I tiptoed up the stairs to my bedroom and quietly pulled the door behind me before I turned on the lights. Lights on, I started getting ready for bed, when I noticed that my window was slightly ajar. _What._ I walked over to pull the window closed, when I saw something on my bed.

My breath caught in my throat, but a tiny little gasp escaped my lips. There, sitting on my bed, was my orange ski cap that I had lost long ago.

And just nestled on top of the hat… was a note from TJ.

**Well, there's chapter six. I hope you like it! I've been really busy with AP testing and whatnot, so I'm kinda surprised that I wrote this in three days.**

**Don't forget to review and tell me what you think! I'd really appreciate it… THANKS!**

**-ecStarz**


	8. Chapter 7 Who's the Jerk Now

**A/N: Hey! So, I don't have much to say this time, except for please review this chapter! I love writing for this story, and this is by far the longest chapter I have ever written. I just have so much fun with it, and I hope you guys enjoy it!**

**I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's and I hope 2015 treats you well! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!**

**Chapter 7**

It took a lot of effort for me to get out of bed the next morning. I had turned off my alarm four times and was going for a fifth when I finally looked at the clock. It was a little after ten and I groaned. I wasn't one to sleep in because my mom had it drilled into my head that when you sleep in, you're just wasting your day. So, with a prayer to God and a little push of motivation from my famished stomach, I groaned and rolled out of bed, almost falling onto the floor. _What a great way to start the day._

Trying to find my way out of my cluttered room still half asleep without stepping on anything was a struggle, but I managed to make my way downstairs to the kitchen without completely injuring myself. When I finally fixed myself a bowl of my favorite cereal and sat down at the kitchen table, I didn't even notice that there was a person sitting across from me.

"Good morning, Ashley!" I froze all zombie-like with my spoon almost to my mouth. For a split second I thought it was TJ and started to panic. _What the heck is he doing here?_ After a few seconds, it was like some wires in my brain connected and remembered that TJ _never_ called me Ashley. He only called me 'Spinelli' or even 'Spin' but that was very rare nowadays. "How did you sleep, honey?"

I willed my spoon to finish the journey to my mouth and didn't wait until I swallowed to answer her. "Great, Mom," I mumbled with my mouth full. I took another bite. Slowly, I could feel myself joining reality. I swallowed. "How did you sleep?"

My mom ignored my question, which I found funny. She's all into the whole 'If someone asks you a question, you need to answer in the best possible way. It's only polite' thing. I could hear her voice speaking the words in my head, but the question she did ask me almost made me spit out my cereal, and I'm pretty sure I would have if I had taken a bite. "What did TJ have to say last night?"

Yep, I would have definitely spit out my breakfast. I hesitated before answering cautiously, because I wasn't really sure what she knew. "What do you mean?" I took another bite so I could have time to think about the answer to the next question she was about to throw at me.

The woman just stared at me. "Didn't you read the note?" _Aw, heck. _I tried not to let the look of complete and utter shock show on my face, but I was screaming on the inside. _She knew about the note! How could she know about the note? OHMIGOSH, has she _read_ the note? _

I decided to play the 'I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about' card. I swallowed my bite of cereal and shook my head. "What note?" I asked, with hope that it sounded like genuine curiosity.

No luck. My mom rolled her eyes and said, "Don't be silly. I know that TJ went up to your room and left a note for you to read. He stopped by last night while you were at the movies." _Well, that's just great._

With my elbows propped up on the table, I put my head in my hands and groaned. "Why did you let him in, mom?" I realized that I was so glad to be with Mandy the night before because I didn't think I'd be able to handle seeing TJ twice in one day. Sure, I see him at school, but it's in the distance. Very, _very_ far away in the distance.

"Now Pookie," my mom started, and big mental _UGH_ floated through my head. I mean c'mon. I was in high school now, just a couple years away from college and my mother was still calling me by my childhood nickname. _No, _it wasn't even a childhood nickname. It was just a name that my parents call me, and no matter how many times I asked them to stop, they just ignore me and call me that name again the next day. "Now Pookie, you and I both know that TJ was your friend since elementary school, and it would've have been rude to turn him away." I stifled an eyeroll.

I took another bite of soon-to-be-soggy-if-not-a-bit-soggy cereal. "Wha thid he ay oo you?" Not bothering to swallow before I talked.

My mom glared at me, and if she wasn't sitting at the table, I bet you she would've put her hand on her hip. "Now, Ashley Spinelli, you know it's not polite to talk with food in your mouth. Please swallow and try again."

I swallowed with attitude, if there was such a thing, and asked in the most polite tone that I rarely used, "What did he say to you?"

She kind of looked up at the ceiling as if she was having a hard time trying to remember. "He didn't say much," my mom said, her gaze lowering to set on me. "He asked to speak to you and that he had something to give you. I told him that you weren't home at the moment, and he said that that was okay; he had a note for you. I told him he could leave it in your room."

I nodded slowly, taking it in, but then I remembered one small, but very important, detail. "But that doesn't explain the window!" I said with frustration.

"What's wrong with your window?"

_I might as well get right to the point._ "When I came home last night, my window was cracked open. It wasn't completely closed."

My mom just shrugged and got up to take her plate to the dishwasher. "That is weird, but I doubt it has anything to do with your friend." _Ex-friend._ "Maybe the wind opened it?" She looked at me for a reaction, so I just shook my head ever so slightly. She sighed. "Just go upstairs and read his note, if you haven't already. Oh, and don't forget to do your chores… it's Saturday." And with that, she walked out of the kitchen.

I sat at the table by myself, swirling the milk and what was left of my cereal in a circular motion in the bowl. I had lost my appetite, but even if I hadn't, I wasn't about to eat soggy cereal. I wasn't lying earlier when I said I hadn't read TJ's note. When I noticed the note and my favorite orange ski cap on my bed, I didn't do anything except quickly move it over to the dresser on the other side of the room. The note had played tug-of-war with my mind, and there were a couple of times I almost walked over to it to read it. But then I decided that it would probably keep my thoughts active all night, and as you could probably tell this morning, I was tired enough to begin with. So, I went to bed last night without so much as a glance to what the note could've possibly said.

After washing my breakfast down the garbage disposal, I climbed the stairs back to my bedroom and walked over to where I set the note and the hat the night before. I sighed and picked up the note, not knowing what to expect exactly. It had been a long time since either one of us spoke to each other, and after seeing him yesterday at Third Street, the note could've said anything. I opened the note; it was no bigger than an index card. I don't know why I didn't want to read it, but no matter how many times I brought my eyes to the first line, I kept turning away. _Do I really want to know what he wants?_ I had an idea, but I didn't want to make assumptions.

I took a seat on my bed to make the blow that was about to come easier. I took a deep breath and started reading.

_Spin- I know it's been a long time since the two of us have talked… too long actually… and I'm so sorry for that. I know most of that was because of me, but after seeing you yesterday, it reminded me of how badly I messed up. I found your hat that day before eighth grade, and I've kept it because I didn't think you were ever going to be able to forgive me for what happened, and I wanted something to remember you by- so I could remember all of the fun times we had in elementary school. I don't know if you've forgiven me yet… you probably haven't… but I wanted a chance to explain myself. I wrote my number on the bottom of the card, and I hope you'll text me when you get the chance. Please, Spinelli. Let's meet somewhere and talk. –TJ_

I set the note on the bed beside me and just stared at it. That was not what I expected at all. The note tugged at my heart because it reminded me of something TJ would do back at Third Street. He would always want to explain his side of the story when he messed up and try to fix things, and this time I might've believed him, if I didn't know just how much he's changed.

His number was indeed written in the bottom right hand corner of the card, and that just made me even more conflicted about what to do. _Should I call him? No, I can't. It'd be too weird. It's a bad idea._ So much has changed between us that even if we did meet up somewhere to talk, it would just be filled with awkward silence like the car ride home yesterday. Well, he tried to make conversation… I was the one who made it awkward. But who could blame me? If only you knew what happened.

I walked over to the dresser where my hat sat out of place. I mean, I lost it about four years ago give or take, and honestly, I didn't think I'd ever see it again. But of course TJ had it, I mean it all makes sense now. '_Something to remember you by'_? Yeah, right. Bull crap. Nevertheless, I took the hat in my hands and a wave of emotion just kinda crashed into me. This orange ski cap meant so much to me, and after I "lost" it, I just felt empty… so empty, in fact, that because I didn't have the hat to tie together my outfit, I completely ditched the dress, the tights, and the boots. Eighth grade was the very first year that I actually had some variety in my wardrobe.

I sucked in a breath and walked over to my closet, hoping that my dress and tights were still hidden somewhere in its deep dark depths. I was never one for cleaning, so I was going to assume that when I threw the clothes in the closet four years ago, they hadn't moved. And I was right. There, in the far corner right next to Mr. Monk Monk, were my red dress and my yellow and red-striped leggings. _Man, it's been a long time._

Climbing across the mess, I made my way to my once-abandoned clothes and grabbed them, then started my way back out of the closet. I stared at the dress and leggings a long time before I made a final decision. I couldn't believe I was doing this.

I pulled off the clothes that I had worn for pajamas, and I slipped on the dress and the leggings. Amazingly, they still fit… sort of. It was a teeny bit tight, but the look was natural. I didn't have my brother's boots anymore, but I grabbed my beloved ski hat and slapped that on my head. I was hesitant to look in the mirror, afraid of what I might see, but I did it anyway.

To be honest, I didn't look any different. Sure, I looked older, but other than that I looked like my elementary-slash-middle school self. It was actually kind of terrifying. As I looked at myself in the mirror, examining every detail, I wondered about the last time I wore the whole outfit. Seventh grade seemed like such a long time ago…

I didn't have many classes with TJ, and the few classes I did have with him, he tended to ignore me, but science was the one class that I hated most of all. We sat at one of those rectangular tables that seated two people, but the table was pushed up against another two-seater, so the now-square table sat four. I sat next to TJ because we had to pick our permanent seat for the whole year at the beginning of the year, and TJ and I weren't fighting then, but if I had to guess, now he would move if he got the chance. Fine with me, I didn't want to sit next to him anyway.

TJ and I sat across from two kids- a boy and a girl. The girl's name was McKinsey, and she was pretty nice. She was quiet and kept mostly to herself, her behavior completely opposite of the boy she sat next to. _Alan Thornton. _Alan was… I'll just come right out and say it- Alan was a jerk. And he was mean. He was probably ninety-eight percent similar to Lawson. In fact, he _was_ the Lawson of our grade. And for some reason, TJ _needed_ to be friends with him. Like, he needed to be his friend in order to live. It was weird, and frankly, grossed me out. Alan was a gross kid.

Who seemed to have the need to talk twenty-four-seven. "So, man, are you planning on playing football in high school?" I assumed he was talking to TJ for two reasons. One, football was a guy sport, and TJ was the only other boy at our table. And two, he only spoke to me to make fun of me.

I noticed TJ about to nod and say 'yes', so being the stubborn girl that I was, I quickly turned to him and said, "You've never played before." The look TJ gave me was so sharp it probably could've cut through diamond, but I just shrugged and turned back to my bell-work, work that they were _supposed _to be doing.

But no, Alan didn't get the hint and kept right on blabbering. "Oh, like you're one to talk? I bet you don't even play a sport, do you?" I opened my mouth to reply, but he didn't even give me a chance to talk. He turned to TJ, "What I don't understand is how you're friends with her?" Alan pointed at me with a sausage-looking finger. "I mean, look at her," he continued, "she wears the same thing every single day. She's a brat, and her hat is the rattiest thing ever!" And with that, he quickly leaned over the table and snatched my hat right off of my head. _What a jerk._

I could not believe he was saying those things, and I would've taught him a lesson if it weren't for the fact that class had started ten minutes ago, and I didn't want to call attention to myself and my table. Although, I really couldn't care less about them at the moment.

I don't think I had ever been self-conscious about what I wore like most girls, but his words made me look down at what I was wearing. I didn't have to, though, because I knew he was right. So what, if I wore the same thing every day? TJ did too! But nope, he was a boy, so it didn't matter.

What made it worse was that TJ didn't even say a single word while Alan was bashing me. That made me angrier. "You think those things, too?" I snarled, punching him on the shoulder, but he just ignored me, working hard on our assignment that he probably had no clue how to do. _Ugh._ "TJ?" I asked with more force.

He put his pencil down and looked up at the ceiling dramatically. "I don't know, maybe?" He wouldn't look at me in the eyes. "You _do_ wear the same thing every day. I mean, its middle school now, maybe you should change something? I don't know!" He went back to his work, but his words stung. _Some friend._

For a moment, I forgot Alan was sitting across from us, but unfortunately, he wouldn't let me forget. "Of course Detweiller agrees with me," he said, smugly, playing with my hat, "I don't see how he couldn't." _My hat._

"Give me my hat back, Alan," I started, reaching for it, but he quickly moved it out of my reach. I glared at him, imagining his head catching on fire.

Alan shook his head. "I will under one condition."

I squinted my eyes at him. "And what's that?" I didn't even want to know.

"I'll give you your hat back if…if…" He was having a hard time coming up with something, so I thought it couldn't be that bad. "…If you admit that you have a crush on TJ Detweiller." _Oh, my gosh. He did not._ Alan had a big devious grin on his stupid face, so I knew he was serious.

"What?!" I screeched, trying so hard not to look over at TJ. I would never admit that in a million bazillion years. Not because it was true, because it _wasn't_, (Well, okay, maybe a little) but because TJ would never look at me the same way again. I wanted to look at TJ so bad, just to see his expression, but I couldn't risk it. Not when Alan thought I had a crush on him. _Was I that obvious?_ I had always thought I'd done a good job of hiding it. Apparently not, though.

Alan twirled my hat on his finger. "Do it, and you'll get your hat back." _Ugh, I hate this kid so much._

Suddenly everything in me snapped. "Why you little-!" I was about to jump over the table and strangle the loser when an arm pulled me backwards. TJ. I yanked my arm out of his grasp, and opened my mouth to scream at him too, but he cut me off.

"Spinelli, stop. You're calling attention to yourself," he whispered. I looked around and sure enough, everyone in our class was staring in our direction. I was just lucky that the teacher wasn't in the room or I'd have a detention for sure. "Just let it go."

"How am I supposed to just let it go?" I whispered back, furious. "The weasel took my hat, and he should pay for it!" TJ just shook his head and slowly released my arm, probably making sure I wasn't going to go crazy. I might've; I was so mad. "And _you!_" TJ's eyes widened slightly, so I knew he was surprised on my sudden turn on him. "You can't just-"

The bell that ended the class period saved me from probably getting a detention. I stopped talking and stood up so fast that my chair slid into someone who was walking past behind me. "Hey, watch it!" _Oops, sorry. _I squinted my eyes so hard at Alan, I could barely see. "You better watch yourself Thornton." I tried to growl in the most intimidating voice I could do, and then I grabbed my books and walked away.

I was almost out the door when I heard Alan speak from our table. "What's that supposed to mean?" I didn't bother turning around, but I heard TJ reply, "I don't know, man, but take it from me- you should probably watch your back. She's a tough one." I smiled as I walked out the door. He had no idea.

Because science was the last class of the day, my next stop was home. I didn't want to see or talk to anyone, so when I passed by the gang (minus TJ), I averted my eyes and kept walking. I heard Gus and Mikey call my name, but I ignored them. I just wanted to walk home alone.

I heard the sound of feet running on the pavement, and then someone fell into step with me. For some reason, my first thought of who it could be was Dan. "Go away, Dan, if you know what's good for ya."

"Chill, Spinelli, it's just me, and- and what's up with Dan?" _Oh, it's Vince._ _Vince, go away._

I sighed. "Nothing. What do you want, Vince?"

"Well, you seemed really upset when you walked out of school," _no duh,_ "and TJ is nowhere to be found," _you don't say?_ "so I was wondering if anything happened between you two?" Oh, well that was an unexpected twist of the question.

My breath got caught in my throat, but I kept walking. "What makes you think anything happened?"

"I just assumed- hey, where's your hat?" _Ugh, not this again._

"TJ's friend took it," I said before I could stop myself. I mentally face-palmed. Vince didn't need to know that. I turned to look at him, and his facial expression had 'confused' written all over it, so I just gave a long heavy sigh and launched into the story about Alan's big mouth and how I apparently wear the same thing every day. "So what do you think?" I asked Vince as we both sat on the curb in front of Kelso's. "Do you think I should just start dressing differently?" I had no idea why I was asking _Vince_ this question. It was times like these where I kind of missed Gretchen.

There was a pause before Vince spoke. "I mean, you could, but the way you dress is just who you are, Spinelli. Alan can't expect you to change, especially if you don't want to." He stood up. "I'll talk to Teej, but don't let them get to you. I've got to go, so I'll see you tomorrow, Spin." He waved goodbye and walked back in the direction of his house. I just sat on the curb thinking about what he said.

Though it probably shouldn't have, Vince's words set a fire under my butt. I was angry- angry at Alan for saying those things about me, angry at myself because those said things were true, and angry at TJ because he didn't stand up for me. I was just plain angry, and I intended on doing something about it. I just didn't know when.

The next day, I went to our spot where we all meet to walk to school, but Vince and TJ were nowhere to be found, only Mikey and Gus who were doing who knows what. I rolled my eyes and walked up to them. "Hey guys, where are Vince and TJ?"

"I don't know, Spinelli! I haven't seen them since school yesterday!" Gus sounded worried, but then again, when _didn't _Gus sound worried? Maybe frazzled is a better word.

Anyway… "Of course you don't," I muttered under my breath. I needed to get to school and find Vince. I assumed he was with TJ and maybe he had gotten some answers already. "I'll see you guys later. Have fun doing… whatever it is you're doing," and I stormed off towards the school.

I sat by myself on the stone ledge near the front doors of the middle school, just staring at all of the students, until the bell rang. But the bell wouldn't ring for a long time, because for some reason I got to school really early. _What is wrong with me?_ I had so many tardies in elementary school. Why am I suddenly on-time in middle school?

My eyes raked the school yard for probably the seventeenth time when I finally found what I wanted to see. TJ and Vince. With Alan. Oh, no. That was not okay. I jumped off of the ledge and walked over to the three guys, nonchalantly pulling Vince away from the group. "Vince, what's going on? Where were you two this morning?"

"I was talking to TJ like I told you I was going to, and then Alan came up and joined us." Vince said those words like they weren't that big of a deal, but I didn't think he knew how much of a deal it really was.

"What, so you two are friends now?" I couldn't even try to hide the bitterness in my voice. It just kind of came out that way.

Vince looked behind him at TJ and Alan who were laughing about something that probably wasn't even that funny. "I don't know, I guess. I mean, he's not a bad guy once you get to know him." That was such a Vince-like thing to say, and it made me sick. I couldn't believe I was losing him, too.

The bell rang and everyone started pushing and shoving to get through the doors of the school. "I'll see you later, Spinelli, and don't be surprised when Alan sits with us at lunch. TJ invited him to sit at our table." And with that he turned and ran inside with the rest of the student body.

It's not like that had anything to do with me. I switched lunch tables a while ago, but the thought of Alan sitting in my former spot kind of made me mad. "Doesn't he have his own table with his own friends?" I shouted at no one in particular. Vince was already long gone, as well as everyone else. Wow, those kids sure did move fast.

Instead of going inside like a normal person, I walked around to the back of the school where the football field and track was. I didn't feel like seeing the Ashley's in first hour, and TJ in second, so I skipped class. _I'm such a rebel._ There was a huge mat at one end of the field that looked really comfortable, and I was going to assume it was the high jump mat. Vince told us about it once and said it was for some sort of track event. To be completely honest, I wasn't paying attention.

I made my way over to the mat and flopped down on my back, staring up at the cloudless blue sky. I didn't know what to think about first. TJ. My mind kept jumping back to TJ when I was trying so hard to think about something else. I sighed, closed my eyes, and felt the spring heat warm my face. He was being such a jerk lately, but I had no idea why. _I wish he would just talk to me._ He was the only member of the group that I felt like I could talk to about 'personal' stuff, personal being a relative term, but now, I didn't feel like I could talk to him about anything. I needed to get him alone so I could just let him have it, scream at him about everything that's happened without his new friends being there to have his back, but I didn't know how to do that.

I also needed to get revenge on TJ to let him know that he can't just treat me like that, but I didn't know how to do that either.

So I sat on the high jump mat for who knows how long, thinking of ways that I could get TJ back. I was so deep in thought that I didn't even hear someone come up behind me. "Uh, excuse me? What do you think you're doing?"

I lifted my head just enough to see who was talking, but when I saw who it was, I quickly sat up all of the way. "Hello, Mrs. Baumert, I… I'm…" I didn't know if I should tell the teacher why I was out here or make something up. "I'm skipping class," I sighed, conceding. No sense in adding more to the trouble I was already in by lying.

The woman nodded, "mmhm, that's what I thought." She grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet. _Um, ow?_ "Come on, let's see what Principal Rittler has to say about this," and she dragged me away. _So that's the guy's name._

I wasn't surprised; I expected this. I mean, you can't just skip school and expect not to get caught, especially when you stay on school grounds. That was my first problem right there. When we got to the office, Mrs. Baumert pulled me down into a chair next to a kid who was evidently sleeping. His hat covered his face, so I couldn't see who it was.

So I sat there for at least fifteen minutes next to the sleeping kid, until I accidentally sneezed. It was one of those random ones that you don't see coming, and it was loud. So loud, in fact, that it woke the guy up. He stirred and struggled to sit up, and I kind of felt bad. "I'm sorry, dude, I didn't mean-" I stopped when I saw who the kid was. Of course it was him. I was going to ask what he was doing there, but I made the split-second decision that I wasn't going to talk to him at all.

The words came out of his mouth instead, along with an obnoxious laugh. "Well, if it isn't for Ms. Tough Girl herself. I should've known you'd be here." Alan smirked and looked me up and down. "And I see you're still sporting the 'Spinelli' outfit." I wanted to punch him so hard right there in the middle of the principal's waiting room, but after a deep breath, I decided against it. The Principal already didn't like me because of my brothers, and now I was caught skipping class. Who knows what he'll do to me if I punched a fellow student?

I just stared straight ahead while Alan kept taunting me, but fortunately it wasn't for long because he was called in to the main office. He laughed as he walked away, but something in his backpack caught my eye. _My hat!_ My hat was hanging out of his backpack! I started coming up with a plan on how to get it back. _Yes, yes that could work._

I had no idea what Alan had done to get sent to the principal's office, but whatever it was, he was sure taking a long time in there. I glanced at the clock. _30 minutes. _Thirty minutes had passed since he went in there, and there was no way to tell when he'd be coming out-

The door opened, and Alan was there, and he looked pretty distressed, but that didn't stop him from making a snide comment on his way out. "See you later, Spinelli," he smirked, vulgarly. Man, he really made me mad sometimes.

He had to walk right past me in order to leave, so despite my promise of not talking to him, nothing stopped me from sticking my foot out, which resulted in him _almost_ falling flat on his face. He glared at me but kept walking, and I resisted the urge to laugh. Instead, I waited until the door shut, and then I let loose, almost crying from the pain in my stomach muscles.

"Ms. Spinelli," A call from Rittler's office made me compose myself, "please come in here." I took a deep breath. _Alright, let's get this over with._

It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Maybe because it was actually the first time all year that I was sent there. All Rittler gave me was a warming and a stern 'don't do it again, or next time you have detention'. I could live with that.

I got out of there just in time for lunch, which was good because boy, was I starving! I hopped in line to get a cheeseburger, but I didn't even notice who was getting in line behind me. Wanting to be polite, I said, "Hi TJ," but I didn't look at him. Obviously he thought nothing was wrong if he purposely got in line behind me.

He didn't ignore me like I thought he would. "Hey, Spinelli, have you seen Alan?" Oh, so that's why he was talking to me.

I shook my head, but I still didn't look at him. I got my food instead, and my mouth started to water. "Nope, haven't seen him. The last time I saw him was in the principal's office."

"What? You were in the principal's office? What for?" TJ sounded surprised, but it was lost on me. Although, it was nice to know he cared, even just a little bit.

"Nothing. It doesn't matter. Anyway, I haven't seen Alan, but he should be around here, somewhere. I'll see you later," and with that, I left him standing by the fries with a slightly dumfounded look on his face.

It was weird. I went through the rest of the day without seeing Alan at all, even in science when he was supposed to sit across from me, but I just assumed he got sent home for whatever he did to get sent to the office in the first place. The silence between me and TJ was so awkward that I had to put a stop to it. "Alright, man, what's your deal?" I wanted answers, and I wanted them now. "You've been acting weird for months!"

I expected him to get mad and defend himself, but instead he just sighed, "I could say the same thing to you, Spin." I started to ask him what that could possibly mean, but he continued to talk. "I mean, you switched tables on us, Spinelli! It's not like we kicked you out. It was your own choice." _Oh, no. He cannot use that excuse._

I was flabbergasted. "Only because someone else was sitting in my spot the _entire_ week leading up to choosing day. How was I supposed to know he wasn't going to sit there again?"

"Because we're your friends! At least, I thought we were." He sounded sad, but I knew it was just an act. He didn't really care.

"At least I'm not friends with a jerk!"

TJ's eyes widened in half astonishment, half anger, sadness gone. "Who? Alan? He's not a jerk!"

"Well, it's funny how you knew I was talking about _him_!"

"You know what, Spinelli? I think we need a break from each other."

Before I could stop myself, I agreed. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." _Wait, what am I saying?_

TJ looked taken aback, probably because he expected me to fight for our friendship, but I was tired of all the stress he had been causing me. "Fine, if that's what you want." He stood up and grabbed his books to leave. The bell had rung a couple minutes before, but we were in the heat of our 'discussion'. "I'll see you around."

Of course it wasn't what I wanted, but I didn't see any other way to fix the problem. Heck, I didn't even know what the problem was exactly. All I knew is that I was watching my best friend since kindergarten walk out of the classroom without ever knowing if I was going to talk to him again or not. It was a sick feeling.

I ended up walking home by myself again, but I didn't mind it. It gave me time to think. I was in the mood for something frosty so I made my way to Kelso's for a milkshake. I hadn't had one in over a week, and I was having serious withdrawals. I had already gone inside when I noticed Alan sitting at the counter, so I quickly hit behind one of the candy isles. What was he doing there? I thought he got suspended or something.

I peeked out from behind the shelves of wingerdingers and spotted his backpack sitting on the floor next to his seat. Luckily, my hat was still sticking out of the side pocket. The plan I had come up with earlier to get my hat back wasn't going to work now that we weren't in school, so my only option was to try to sneak up behind him and grab it. _Well, here goes nothing._

Crawling oh so quietly across the floor, I reached Alan and his backpack, and thankfully, he hadn't noticed me. I reached out and grabbed my hat, but I was struggling to pull it loose from the strap. _Almost there…_ I yanked the hat loose and almost fell back on my butt, right as Mr. Kelso said, "Why, hello Spinelli! What can I get for you today?" And then Alan turned around and glared at me.

I closed my eyes. I was so close getting out of there without Alan noticing me, but of course, Mr. Kelso had to be his friendly, polite self. I stood up and put my orange ski cap on my head. "Hi, Mr. K, can I just get a strawberry soda please? I'm not really in the mood for anything fancy." As he nodded and walked away, I sat down on a stool that put enough distance between me and Alan as possible.

But that didn't stop the lummox from talking. "So, I see you've resorted to snooping through my things now. Find anything you like?"

I snorted. "Yeah, right. Don't flatter yourself, Thornton. I was just getting my hat back that you _stole_!"

"Yeah, well, do it again, and I'm gonna make sure you regret it!" I wasn't looking at him, but I heard him get up and the ding of the bell that signaled the opening and closing of the store's doors. _Sheesh, some people._

"What was that about?" Mr. Kelso asked, handing me my drink.

I took a long sip and swallowed. "Nothin', he's just TJ's new best friend." If I could hear the hurt in my voice, I was sure Kelso could pick up on it, too. I tried to correct myself. "I mean, I don't care." I took another sip.

Mr. Kelso looked sad. "Are you and TJ not friends anymore?"

I was about to nod and say we were, but then I remembered our conversation at the end of science class and stopped myself. _Were we still friends?_ "I don't know, Mr. Kelso. He's changed."

He nodded understandingly and then said something I never would have guessed. "He was in here just the other day talking about you in the same way." _What?_

I almost spit out my soda. "He was? But why?"

Mr. Kelso shook his head. "I don't know, Spinelli, but he told me he misses you. Maybe you should call him?" If I wasn't talking to Mr. Kelso, I definitely would have not believed for one second that TJ missed me, not the way he'd been acting. It made my heart clench.

"Okay, I will when I get home." I finished off the last of my soda and hopped off of the chair. "Thanks for everything, Mr. K!" I smiled and ran out the door.

"You're welcome, Spinelli!" I heard Mr. Kelso call back to me.

I ran all the way home and was a bit out of breath by the time I reached my driveway. Man, I was out of shape. _Maybe I should start running._ I laughed. No way, running was for scums. My parents weren't home yet; they were probably still at work, so I went over to the phone. I couldn't believe I was calling TJ after we said we needed time apart. Was this really a good idea?

The phone in my hands started to ring before I even made the decision. "Hello?" I answered on the second ring.

"Spinelli? It's me, TJ, we need to talk."

I was happy that he was the one to call and not me. I felt like that would have been more awkward. "Hey, Teej! I'm glad you called. I wanted to talk to you about-"

He cut me off mid-sentence. "How could you do that to him, Spinelli?" _Huh?_

"What are you talking about, TJ?" _Like, seriously, what are you talking about?_

"I know you don't like him, but did you really have to fight him?"

"I have no idea what you're even talking about! Who did I fight? The last I checked, I haven't fought nobody!"

"Don't act dumb, Spinelli! Alan told me what you did!" _WHAT?_

"_Alan?!_ Alan told you I fought him, and you _believed _him?" I could not believe what I was hearing. It was like the Gretchen incident all over again.

"Of course I believe him! He has the bruises to prove it!"

"Bruises? I have no idea what you're talking about! He was fine in Kelso's about an hour ago. So, please enlighten me on what I've done."

TJ was getting angrier by the second, as well as I. "I don't need to tell you anything except for we're done!"

I couldn't help myself. "You know, you're starting to sound like Gretchen."

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, and then it was like TJ dropped a bomb on the conversation. "Maybe she was right! Spinelli, you've been acting like a jerk lately, and I don't want to be a part of it anymore. Call me when you figure yourself out, but until then, don't come running to me for anything!" Then, he hung up on me.

I stood there for long time after the call ended trying to process what had just happened. It was TJ's voice, but it didn't sound like TJ. And he said _I_ changed? Ugh, as if. If there was one person who changed the most out of everyone, it was him. I slammed the phone back on the hook and ran upstairs to my room.

My parents had given me a sketchbook for Christmas last year that I could doodle in, and I had the urge to draw me, TJ, and the gang back when we were still best friends. It took me about two hours to finish, and by the time I was done, I had actually broken a sweat. I had to say, it was a good drawing, probably one of the better ones I've done since my masterpiece on the blacktop three years ago. Man, things sure have changed since then.

I actually debated on giving the picture to TJ, maybe spark some old memories? Well, I'd see him tomorrow, sometime, and maybe if I feel gutsy I'll give it to him.

Turned out, I didn't have to worry about finding the courage to give him the drawing because he avoided me all day during school. He even skipped science. _That scumbag…_

I collapsed on my bed from emotional exhaustion. Sure, that whole incident with TJ and Alan was a long time ago, but I had forgotten all about it. Now that I thought about it, it actually explained a lot.

My phone lit up from my bedside table- the sound was still turned off from last night. It was a text message. _Oh, God._ I hesitated looking at it, in fear that it was TJ, but then I remembered that TJ didn't have my number. On my stomach, I reached across the bed to press the open button. I let out a breath of relief. The message was from Andrea, but I didn't have the heart to carry on a conversation at the moment, so I left the phone on the nightstand and turned over to my back.

My mind wandered back to TJ's number. _Should I call him? Or should I txt him? Which would be less weird?_ Why would it be weird? _Because of the incident that happened during the summer right before eighth grade._ Oh, right. Well, he still remembered what had happened. The car ride home yesterday told me that much.

But did I still remember every detail? We learned in psychology that some people end up twisting the details and repressing traumatic memories that happened to them. At least I didn't think that happened to me. It was a pretty life-changing event that I don't think I could forget even if I tried. It was mostly TJ's fault, but what had happened to TJ that could have made him like that? Repressed memories or not, this is how I remember the story…

The summer between seventh and eighth grade was the first summer that I didn't go to camp, and neither did Vince, Mikey, Gus, and TJ. I didn't know about Gretchen, but I assumed she went back to whatever camp she attended last summer.

The summer between seventh and eighth grade was also the first summer that the gang didn't hang out much altogether. I think that was partly because of me because I didn't hang out with them much. I did stuff with the group sometimes, but I was with Andrea for most of the summer.

TJ and I were on better terms during the summer, too, but it was nothing like we were before. He had become a bit rebellious, and there were even rumors going around that he had started drinking. I didn't want to believe it, but I wasn't too surprised. If anything, it made me sad.

There was a new Señor Fusion movie coming out, and I knew we were getting older, but it was one of those movie series that no matter how old you got, you still had to see the next one, and Vince and I had always talked about going.

So, on one normal afternoon, a couple weekends before school started, I called Vince. "Hey, Vince, how's it going, man?"

"Hey, Spinelli! It's good, what's up?"

"That new Senor Fusion movie! Feel like goin'?"

"Definitely!" Vince said, excitedly. "Call Mikey and Gus, and I'll meet you in the park." _The park?_ "I think TJ's there and I know he'll want to come." _Oh._

"Okay! See you soon!" And we hung up. I didn't care that TJ was coming, in fact, I was kind of excited to see him, but he was the member I talked to the least. But whatever.

I called Mikey who was with Gus and told them about the movie details, and then made my way to the park to meet Vince and TJ.

I don't know why, but for some reason I didn't expect TJ to be with people. For some reason, I thought he would be there alone, but he was there, on the field, with Alan and Derek and a few other guys that I semi-recognized from some of my classes, throwing around a football.

When I walked up to them, Alan was the first one to start talking. _Of course._ "Oh, hey guys, look! It's Spinelli," he caught the football that Derek threw to him and stared at me with a devious grin that I knew he didn't mean as polite. "And, look! She's still wearing that hat."

I rolled my eyes. That's always what it was with him- him making fun of my clothes. It was like he couldn't find anything else to tease me for. What I didn't expect, though, was him sprinting over to me and taking my hat from me _again._ But this time, I just let him have it. If I didn't give him the satisfaction of being mad, then maybe he would see how childish he was being and give it back to me.

But then he started playing 'monkey-in-the-middle' with it, and with a loud, "Detweiller", TJ joined in. I wasn't jumping for it, like Alan thought I would, but I was planning carefully on how to catch it on the first try. After several tosses back and forth from TJ to Alan, I realized there was no way I could catch it because they were throwing it too high over my head. _Shorty problems._

I mapped out my plan in my head, and then I started running. Towards TJ. I knew what I had to do, but it wouldn't be pretty. As soon as TJ caught my hat in his hands, I tackled him to the ground with an 'oomph'! Although I wasn't heavy, he struggled getting his arm out from under me, but eventually, he did. He threw my hat in a weird direction behind him, and then shoved me hard. "Get offa me, Spinelli," he growled.

He didn't have to tell me twice. I hopped off of TJ and ran into the street where my hat had landed. With my hat in my hand, I turned back to TJ, angrier than ever, but TJ had started yelling at me first. "Why do you have to be such a jerk, Spinelli? We were only having a little fun!" I narrowed my eyes at him. I didn't know if it was the power of suggestion speaking, but I couldn't tell if TJ had had a little bit to drink before this. There was something about the way he talked.

"Guys, GUYS! What are you doing?" Vince came running up to us. "You two are friends!" Had he not gotten the memo? TJ ignored him and just gave me a deathly glare.

I was tired of fighting with him like this all of the time, but each time, he made me mad. "Me, a jerk? You're the one to talk! Why I oughta-" I clenched my teeth and shoved TJ hard, and he almost fell down but not quite. TJ glared at me like he wanted to murder me, and I returned the look, until TJ shoved me back with the same amount of force if not harder. Because he definitely had more weight on me, I staggered backwards into the street, struggling to regain my balance, and eventually fell onto my butt.

Honestly, I was kind of scared. I didn't think I had ever seen him this mad before, and all of his anger was focused on me, but then his eyes widened in terror, and I became very confused. "Spinelli! Watch-" _HOOONNNKKKKK._ The sound of a car horn cut him off.

I didn't know what he was trying to say, and there wasn't enough time to figure it out before I was flung sideways onto the pavement. I tried to open my eyes, but my whole body hurt. _What happened?_ I couldn't move, couldn't do anything expect watch the group of guys standing on the side of the street whisper. Most of them turned and ran, but Vince, TJ, and Alan stayed, although Alan was trying to leave.

"Dude, man, look, we gotta go!" Alan said urgently, pulling on TJ's arm, but TJ wouldn't budge. He just looked at me with a stricken expression. "Dude, come on! Let's _go._" _No, TJ, please don't leave._ I didn't have the capability of actually saying the words, but I wanted him to stay.

Slowly, TJ let Alan pull him away as soon as sirens were heard in the distance, but before he turned around and ran, the last thing I heard was, "I'm so sorry, Spin."

And then I shut my eyes, unable to open them back up again.

**I hope you guys liked chapter seven! If you guys have comments or questions, please review! I love hearing what you guys think!**

**I'm glad I was able to update this story in less than a year, and hopefully next time, it will be even faster, but I always say that and it doesn't happen.**

**Anyway, THANKS for taking the time to read this (and hopefully review), and I hope you enjoy the rest of your winter break!**

**-ecStarz**


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